BONYO’S BONE: The hollow ritual of vetting

When the drafters of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 inked the provisions on public vetting, they had a vision.

They must have dreamt of transparency, meritocracy and that leaders appointed to public service would earn the trust of the people, through scrutiny, competence, and integrity.

They imagined a process that respected the taxpayer, honoured the Constitution, and lifted the dignity of public office.

But today, what plays out in the National Assembly is anything but that vision.

What was meant to be a rigorous exercise has been reduced to a hollow, predictable ritual.

This week, I watched on television the vetting of two Cabinet nominees before the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments chaired by Speaker Moses Masika Wetang’ula.

I cringed. I cringed because the nominees fumbled and the interviewers were uninspired, unprepared, and uninterested.

Then I did something dangerous. I compared it to a vetting session in the United States Senate just a few months ago.

Now maybe I’m being unfair. Maybe it’s naïve to compare two centuries of democratic evolution in America to Kenya’s three-decade-old journey. Maybe.

But here’s what are facts: our standards are not set by history. They are set by our Constitution. And by the people of Kenya.

This is not about America. This is about us. About you, the taxpayer. About me, the voter.

About our children, whose futures are being shaped by the very people these committees approve.

Where are the 5 Ps of any credible vetting process? Preparation, purpose, probing, professionalism and post-interview analysis

Gone. Forgotten. Replaced with empty praise, political posturing, and pre-written approvals.

Since the 11th Parliament, when vetting exercises begun, very few nominees have walked into those committee rooms and emerged vetted on merit. And when they did, they often outclassed the very people interviewing them.

So what do we end up with? Cabinet Secretaries who can’t answer basic policy questions.
Ministers who fumble with facts. Leaders who were never tested, never challenged, never held accountable.

We end up with a government staffed by survivors of a political playlist not champions of the Kenyan dream.

The vetting process, as it stands, is a mockery of our democracy.

It insults the Public Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act. It is a waste of public resources, time, and national hope.

If Parliament cannot treat this process with the gravity it deserves, if our MPs cannot rise above theatrics to demand competence then let’s call this what it is: a farce, a rubber stamp and betrayal of the people.

In fact, let’s do away with the circus altogether.

Let the President appoint his Cabinet openly, directly, fully accountable to him or her without pretending there’s any real vetting going on.

Because right now, all we’re doing is lying to ourselves. And worse — we are failing Kenya.

That…is my Bone tonight.