Embarrassing rejection of State jobs calls for change of tack

 

A social media war between two prominent Kisii leaders over a decision by a presidential appointee to reject an opportunity to serve in government calls for a sober review on whose interests such appointments are made. 

Timothy Bosire's decision to say no to President William Ruto's decision to appoint him non-executive Chairman of the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), has sparked a war of words between some Kenyans.

State organs to which people are being appointed are not political offices where politically correct individuals should be assigned specific roles but were set up to improve service delivery.

Since for many years, appointments to some parastatals have been used to reward loyalists instead of those who are most qualified, it's now being seen as a tribal entitlement. State appointments have been politicised and reduced to mere reward zones for politically correct individuals, a move that has compromised the roles of many parastatals.

It's not surprising that Bosire, who hails from the Kisii community, found support and ridicule in equal measure when he rejected the appointment. Some leaders, South Mugirango MP Silvanus Osoro, chided Bosire's decision, accusing him of being disrespectful to the president and wasting a community’s opportunity to serve in the broad-based government. 

In declining the offer, Bosire cited family and personal reasons as did, before him, former West Mugirango MP Vincent Kemosi, and Millicent Omanga while turning down similar appointments.

The time has come for Parliament to give clear guidelines on State appointments. Any State organ funded by taxpayers' money must have guidelines on who should serve them, the required qualifications and the defined roles.

Many profit-making parastatals have been run down, thanks to State appointees with no clue on their expected services to the public. Many who are picked to head the bodies end up adding no value since they only join to earn allowances. Crafty technocrats in some parastatals are known to take advantage of the ignorance of State appointees to run down profit-making bodies. 

Were that the case, the Bosire NTSA saga wouldn't have dominated social media as somebody more competent would have willingly taken the opportunity while Bosire, an economist, would have been more useful if he was considered for a relevant opportunity. Recent decisions by a section of Kenyans to say no to Ruto’s State appointments must serve as a wake-up call to the appointing authorities to always consult the nominees before making such appointments public.

Bosire’s rejection of the job is not only embarrassing to the head of State, but also to those who fronted his name. The government must change how it picks nominees by insisting on concurrence before the appointments are made.

Those who have declined appointments should not be crucified. Instead, they should be celebrated for conveying a message that it was needless to take up positions they knew they wouldn't be comfortable with merely for the sake of earning salaries and getting big titles.

The President should always have a private conversation with those he intends to appoint before making his decision public. One’s suitability should form the basis of any appointment. Rewarding political cronies with an eye on the 2027 elections must come to an end.

Mr Omanga is a media practitioner