Ruto's CSs seem to be suffering from Peter Principle, kick them out

Is the Kenya Kwanza government suffering from the Peter Principle? The promises it made for the first 100 days in office, beginning with lowering the cost of living have not been fulfilled. Instead, they have been replaced with new promises. The economy has to be fixed before the "hasolas" (hustlers) get what they were promised.

We were promised a lean and extremely efficient government. Nah! It is considerably large. So, should we blame the people in the regime or the policies they have adopted for the change of direction? Should we blame global crises such as the Ukraine-Russia war to for the new regime's incapacity to improve the lives of millions of people in the fringes of poverty?

The Peter Principle states that people rise up the hierarchy to a level of incompetence. They cannot perform at that higher level. Take the example of Juma, a very efficient waiter. He attends to patrons in the most respectable manner, offering services in record time, making up for mistakes of the restaurant in a manner that patrons find satisfying and, thanks to him, other waiters learn to be efficient in rendering service.

He has such influence that even the restaurant owners keep rewarding him. Once a managerial position was vacant the owners had a very easy decision to make on who becomes the next manager. It had to be Juma.

According to the Peter Principle, that is exactly where the owners went wrong with their business. Juma become a manager. His performance was disastrous. He fought with his waiters. He had run-ins with his employer. The customers became unhappy with the services in the restaurant. Why? Juma had no management skills. He was a last mile serviceman not staff manager. He had risen to his highest level of incompetence.

Most of the people occupying those premier positions in the Kenya Kwanza government seem to have been hurried up the hierarchy. They neither understand policy formulation nor implementing policies. Every regime comes into power with 5-10 high performers who become the face of that regime. They make citizens believe that government change pays off and so there is transformative power in meaningful elections. Such officers bring to government zeal, experience and high level knowledge.

Think of the Mwai Kibaki regime. John Michuki stood out as a super performer in the Ministry of Transport where he reined in the rogue matatu industry. The no-nonsense minister did the unthinkable, bringing sanity to ours roads; ending the madness that we had become so accustomed to that it had become part of our culture. In the Uhuru Kenyatta regime, the twin-giants, Dr Fred Matiang'i and the late Prof George Magoha, took the education sector by storm. Even though their policies were not without gaps, they still stood out and symbolised Jubilee regime.

Behold you me, who symbolises the Kenya Kwanza regime social change other than the presidency? Which Cabinet secretaries are up and out there transforming the country with new energy, new vigour, new lenses? Which sector has transformed in the past eight months that give a glimpse of what the vision of the regime is all about? Which Kenya Kwanza governors have stamped a transformative character in their administration to provide evidence that we are into a new era?

We have to differentiate between the normal running of government and the new energy and programming that comes with a new regime. I am discussing the latter. That is what is missing in this Kenya Kwanza government. The elemental question is: Are the people who were given prime positions incompetent because they were raised to offices they cannot manage as the Peter Principle suggests?

As a concerned citizen whose advice is probably not needed but who nevertheless doesn't mind sharing his thoughts for the progress of our country, I strongly believe the current regime should not waste precious time holding on to persons who have no capacity to deliver, not because they are bad people but because they are suffering from the Peter Principle.

Dr Mokua is Executive Director, Loyola Centre for Media and Communication