Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The first shall be last, says Kibaki

Some things happen only in Kenya. It reminds me of Kinyume Mbele, a poem I read in secondary school over 20 years ago. I forget the author due to the cobwebs in my head.

Names of top PSs missing in jobs shuffle

Story by NATION Team
Publication Date: 5/21/2008

Three of the Permanent Secretaries whose ministries featured in the top 10 list were replaced during the naming of the grand coalition Cabinet.

Ms Rachel Nzombo, formerly of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services, was given her marching orders when the new Cabinet was formed last month. The ministry was rated the best in the evaluation report on the performance of public agencies for the financial year 2006/07.

Also shown the door was Ms Rachel Arunga of Special Programmes which was declared the third best ministry.

Ms Alice Mayaka, the former PS in the ministry of State for National Heritage, also missed out in the list announced by President Kibaki after the signing of the National Reconciliation Accord. The ministry was seventh out of the 37 evaluated.

In the list of 10 worst performers, five PSs were retained.

(Full story here)

Let me first salute this piece of good journalism from the Nation.. No other newspaper caught this classic irony.

Do not be surprised. Kibaki, the appointing authority, is walking a well-trodden path. In the last election, he came second but like Mugabe, he remains president. Kalonzo Musyoka, the man he appointed vice-president, who came a distant third in the presidential election, is now No 2, and the man who won the elections comes athird in the pecking order. That's how Kibaki sees things.

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