Ministerial positions should be given to people with managerial experience

Parliamentary Committee on Appointment during the vetting of President William Ruto's Cabinet Secretary Nominees on Aug 4, 2024. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Celebrations that followed the dissolution of the cabinet by President William Ruto seem to have sent a wrong signal to some Kenyans, especially the youth. The wrong impression created was that the young people would be appointed to the cabinet. In a press conference, Embakasi MP Babu Owino regretted that the youth had not been considered for plum positions. Another misconception which, in my view, may have caused the disappointment is that the president was going to appoint men and women with technical skills that go hand in hand with the specific ministries they are appointed to. The disappointment you see among some youth is borne out of these misconceptions.

The Cabinet Secretary position is not suitable for the youth. The CS position is a high-level managerial position that requires, over and above, technical skills that our young people do not possess. It needs men and women with proven track records in senior managerial positions. This is not limited to ministerial positions alone. Many private entities and blue-chip companies will be reluctant to retain a fresh graduate as a CEO. I’m yet to see a commercial bank that will risk recruiting a graduate fresh from campus to oversee its operations. If such a small private entity demands postgraduate qualifications on top of long periods of job experience, what of public offices that carry the aspirations and dreams of millions? Definitely, the bar should be even higher. 

There is a stark difference between conceptual skills/managerial and technical skills. A manager needs to have honed conceptual skills over a period of time by serving in different positions, right from lower cadre to managerial level while lower-level entry jobs need, more than anything else, specific knowledge and technical abilities to carry out tasks. Young people need technically challenging tasks that give them the opportunity to innovate and create products. Rushing them to the top managerial positions is to deny them the privilege of growing careerwise and a chance to exploit their youthful talents besides robbing them the opportunity to accumulate knowledge and experience from sustained attention to specific problems of the organizations.

The Cabinet Secretary, being the political head of the Ministry, receives briefs from career civil servants who are permanent staff in the department. In addition to that, the CSs are by law allowed to hire at least two technical advisors who can sieve through what they receive from the departments. He then applies his wisdom and sound decision-making skills to offer management direction to the ministry based on technical briefs available to him or her. To therefore insist that the CS position be given to the individual with minimum technical capacity relevant to the docket is to water down the weight of the position. Additionally, the CS is not coming to the ministry to micromanage affairs of the department through his narrow understanding of subject matters that fall under the ministry, but to offer leadership and wisdom to various areas that fall under the docket.

Lastly, the fact is that a CS must, besides the qualifications, be alive to the feelings and reality of the grassroots. Having a visible figure with political clout, who identifies easily with the needs of citizens can create a good connection between the government and citizens.

Mr Musanga is a political scientist. [e-mail]