President Ruto responds to being called a micromanager
President William Ruto has responded to a
section of Kenyans who have called him controlling and labelled his
administrative style as micromanagement.
This is in the wake of last week’s Cabinet Secretaries (CSs), Principal Secretaries
(PSs) and parastatal heads’ performance contract signing event at State House,
Nairobi, which saw the Head of State lock two members of his Cabinet out for lateness and demand a written explanation.
But while
some have hailed him for being punctual and direct, some of those who have worked
under him and his critics alike have said his leadership style puts some of those
under him on the edge.
In a Sunday interview with Inooro TV,
Ruto said the reason he is very particular about how he wants those under him
to work is because he is interested in seeing them succeed.
He said he has had a good
working relationship with members of his Cabinet in the ten months he has been in office.
“I have had a very good working
relationship with my cabinet secretaries so far. We are in harmony and have
been meeting to ensure they succeed. Some have labelled me a micromanager or
being very hands-on. But the reason I am very particular is that when a PS or
CS fails, I have failed too,” the president said.
“The work they are doing is the
responsibility Kenyans gave me. I have an interest in making sure every
minister or PS succeeds; their success is my success and it is the success of
Kenya.”
Among those who have criticised Ruto’s leadership
style is former Charangany Member of Parliament Kipruto
arap Kirwa, who Wednesday said the Head of State spends alot of time micromanaging a department “such that ministers are in perpetual
fear."
Kirwa, a former Vice Chairperson of Ruto’s UDA Party, said in a
panel discussion on K24 that a majority of CSs in Ruto's government are
politicians who will need to be re-engineered to become performers.
"When you are under perpetual fear, you're not likely to
make the right decision because he appointed a team of politicians," he told the TV station.
At Tuesday’s performance contract signing
event, an angry President Ruto said he cannot condone tardiness from leaders who have been mandated to serve Kenyans.
Citizen Digital has since established that Kithure Kindiki of
the Interior Ministry and his Trade counterpart Moses Kuria were not in
attendance.
"I don't know whether it is this
performance contracts that have been going on for 20 years that many people
maybe mistakenly think that it is a ritual and that is why people resort to the
old incompetent excuses that there was traffic for them not to be in the most
important public function," President Ruto said at the event.
"We
have a job because we have a contract, if you cannot keep time with your employer,
you have basically dismissed yourself, it is just as simple as that."
The
signing of performance contracts is among the measures President Ruto is
enforcing in his quest to run a transparent and accountable government.
Other
measures include his proposal to amend
Standing Orders to ensure that ministers can be summoned to Parliament and be
grilled on their performance on the floor of the House.
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