President William Ruto has today reprimanded Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries who don’t know what is happening in their ministries telling them that they do not deserve the jobs that they hold.
The president who was addressing senior government officials during a performance contract signing ceremony at State House said he will not shy away from firing anyone who does not do their job.
Here is an excerpt of Ruto’s speech.
“I speak to many of you on the phone. Many times, I call you to my office, and we interact. In different places, I ask you questions – you know that – on programs, on projects. And, I find, that many of you – the people I speak to – don’t even know what is going on in your ministries or departments. You have very scant information. The moment I know more than you in your ministry, then, you must begin to understand that something is very wrong. Because, by constitution, you are supposed to advise me.
Explain to me how you are going to advise me if you have less information than I do. Who is going to be advising who? I call many PSs, I ask them “What’s going on here?” They have no clue. And this is your department. That is the job that you have.
You are not a messenger; you are not a security person; you are not a photographer; you are not a watchman: you are the PS. Or the minister. And the job of the minister and the PS, you don’t know. Or you don’t have information. How do you run a ministry or a department or a parastatal if you have no information? That is the highest level of incompetence.
So, please, take time: read. There is a lot of literature on your desks. There is a lot of briefs from departments. There are a lot of briefs from all manner of places. I take time, myself, to read. Because it’s the only way you can have the correct information for you to make the right decisions. You can never, I promise you, you can never make the right decisions if you don’t have the right information. It will all be a game of guesswork.”
