Mr. President, now is the time to dismiss one Francis Kimemia

By Donald B Kipkorir

That Raila Amolo Odinga was twice refused entry to his usual VIP lounge should be the last straw that broke the camel’s back. In any democracy, whenever there is a moral or decision lapse, an individual or individuals take the fall. In this instance, President Uhuru Kenyatta has to dismiss Francis Kimemia even if there is no direct culpability. For the country to find its moral compass in leadership, we have to have a break with yesterday. Kimemia represents all that is wrong with yesterday.

Some think that the issue of where Raila lounges at the airport is trivial. Far from it. If power is abused by junior officers purportedly acting on instructions from on high, it is symptomatic of systemic failure. Many may not be enamoured with Raila, but an undeniable fact of history, is that without his courage, many of the freedoms we enjoy now, may be absent. In 2007, the defunct IIEC under the inept leadership of Samwel Kivuitu [1939-2013] botched the conduct of the General Elections such that he didn’t know who won.

In the ensuing chaos, we descended to hell and butchered each other, and committed arson and rape in such primitive scale that had the Western world not intervened, we would be Somalia 3.0.

To get out of hell, we enacted the National Accord & Reconciliation Act, 2008, that basically created a joint presidency. Raila may have been called Prime Minister, but for all intents and purposes, he was co-president with Mwai Kibaki.

Richard Nixon [1913-1994] US 37th President was re-elected in a landslide on November 7, 1972.  Later, it came out that in the night of June 17, same year, members of his re-election team had burgled the offices of the rival Democratic Party and wiretapped it. The wire-tapping didn’t damage the Democratic campaigns much nor assist Nixon’s re-election. But the moral lapse in allowing the burglary and the cover-up led to resignation of the President on August 9, 1974. Because of the Watergate Scandal, Nixon remains in ignominy as the worst US president ever.

Recently, the United States Inland Revenue Services had to have its top two Commissioners, Steven T. Miller and Joseph H. Grant resign after it transpired that they were overly harsh in scrutiny of Republican-friendly tax-exempt organisations. Taking responsibility for moral lapses is therefore part of the democratic rubric.

Many still think that the office Kimemia occupies is as powerful as before. President Kenyatta has taken away the powers that were in the Office of the Head of Civil Service and transferred them to Cabinet secretaries Anne Waiguru of Devolution & Planning, and to Joseph ole Lenku of Internal Security and National Co-ordination. What remains with Kimemia is a shell called Secretary to the Cabinet, which is basically a chronicler, or as you may call it, a clerk in Cabinet meetings.

His office no longer has any other powers. His position is near equal if not less than that of a Principal Secretary. Yet many seem not to understand that Kimemia can no longer issue circulars on behalf of the Presidency unless inviting Cabinet Secretaries for meetings.

In 1919, Prime Minister David Lloyd George [1863-1945] of Britain appointed Maurice Hankley [1877-1963] as the first Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of Civil Service. There, begun the chequered history of this office in the Commonwealth. More often than not, this office became the most powerful in each of the commonwealth countries outside the Presidency or the office of the Prime Minister. In Kenya, each holder of this office developed outsize power, ego and wealth. Kenyatta mercifully, has ended this line of un-elected “Prime Ministers”.

As a civil servant, Kimemia ought at all times to be politically neutral. Neutrality in civil service is pure common sense. Civil servants are to serve whichever politician is elected. Kimemia, either, directly, or by perception has broken all the rules of civil service. We have not forgotten the complaints by our Chief Justice Willy Mutunga who was barred from travelling out of JKIA by a junior officer who also cited a circular from Kimemia.

Our President can help us move forward by relieving Kimemia of any title. Now is the time for Kimemia to go home.