What Ruto's new Cabinet projects on integrity and public resources

President William Ruto accompanied by Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Energy Opiyo Wandanyi (centre) and Principal Secretary Alex Wachira during the launch of the last mile electricity connectivity programme in Muranga County on August 9, 2024. [PCS]

Beware the company you keep, lest you become the average of them, or so the quote goes.

The reconstitution of the national Cabinet offered President William Ruto an opportunity to regain ground.

From the perspective of leadership integrity, what do his recent choices communicate and what can be done to root out the impunity that snapped the nation’s patience recently?

Under the consistent pressure of public protests, President Ruto sent his entire Cabinet home in July. Their dismissal sent home individuals with a declared combined net worth of Sh15.83 billion.

Put another way, if these 24 former members of the Cabinet suddenly became philanthropic, they could fund the entire agriculture Ministry budget for four months by themselves. Dismissed to enhance “operations and responsive governance”, the public was kept in suspense for several days before the President announced he was returning 8 of those who had previously served.

Last week, the National Assembly approved 19 of his 20 nominees to the Cabinet. The nominees declared 15-80 per cent increases in their net worth since they were appointed in October 2022. They attributed their fortunes not to their salaries but to investments in real estate, industry and business companies earned while working in public service.

The two nominees who served in the Interior and Defence ministries, two ministries completely shielded from public financial oversight, seemed to have done best. By contrast, the ministries that they have led seemed to have done a lot worse. Some government ministry budgets have shrunk by 4-60 per cent while the economy has also grown by only roughly 5 per cent over the same period.

The reappointment of dismissed Cabinet Secretaries raises other issues. The Employment Act notes that employers may summarily dismiss employees for gross misconduct, poor performance or changes in the employer’s operational requirements.

It is unclear whether the reasons for the dismissal of all CSs have been resolved or found to have been baseless. Despite his public fury at the Uhuru-Raila handshake in 2018 and ruling out the possibility of a handshake in 2023, Ruto reached over into the opposition aisle and poached four members of ODM with the blessing of their party leader. Among them is Wycliffe Oparanya.

Days before his nomination, the Director of Public Prosecution revoked the case against him for allegedly receiving Sh2.2 billion in kickbacks from companies who provided services to Kakamega County Government as well as Sh50 million by leasing his land to the government while he was Governor.

Within this context, all eyes must remain on the Conflict-of-Interest Bill. Last month, Senate introduced amendments to allow state officials including Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Senators, MPs, Governors and their families to trade with the government, including the institutions headed by the officials, without any sanctions.

Should it go through, it will legitimate the practice that has been so rampant. The lack of e-procurement and digitisation of procurement remains another loophole that those appointed to the state motivated by private interests will seek to exploit.

The myriad of ways the Beneficial Ownership Regulations are being circumvented no longer provide citizens with the confidence state officers managing public finances are not also benefitting from the same resources.

Stories are replete with heads of parastatals who set up their companies to win tenders and before they are awarded, sell off their shares to hide their tracks.

Kenya’s greylisting by the Global Financial Action Task Force in February was informed by international concerns with rising money laundering, counter-terrorism financing and corruption. Corruption and impunity were central to the Occupy “Gen Z” Movement’s anger over the last three months.

It remains to be seen whether any lessons have been learned or will this national administration simply “move on”? If it does, will the civic muscles that have flexed themselves so powerfully recently, be able to impose the vision and discipline of the Constitution on those that occupy the state? Let’s see.