The president’s move to appoint Fred Matiang’i as head of oversight of Government programmes, has drawn mixed reaction from a cross section of leaders with some of Deputy President William Ruto allies saying it could be a move to undermine the DP frurther.
Late 2018, as President Uhuru Kenyatta was placing a moratorium on new projects in government until old ones are completed, his deputy, Mr William Ruto, was launching a medical college in Kakamega County, raising questions as to whether the two leaders were reading from the same script.
President Kenyatta issued the new projects freeze directive while addressing all government accounting officers, including Principal Secretaries, Parastatal Heads, Vice Chancellors of Public Universities and Chairmen of State Corporations during a meeting at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi.
While Mr Kenyatta said the directive was aimed at stopping wastage of resources and the trend among government agencies of abandoning incomplete projects before jumping onto others, the interpretation among the Deputy President’s men is that Mr Ruto could be the target because he has been launching numerous projects for a while now in well-publicised tours of various parts of the country.
“There will be no new projects that will be embarked on until you complete those that are ongoing,” said the President.
President Kenyatta warned that government officials who embark on new projects before finishing ongoing initiatives without authorisation will be held responsible.
Dr Matiang’i will chair the newly constituted National Development Implementation and Communication Committee, and will be deputised by his Treasury counterpart Henry Rotich.
The team will comprise of all the Cabinet Secretaries, Attorney-General Paul Kihara, and Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua.
Dr Matiang’i, long-seen by analysts as President Kenyatta’s Mr-Fix-It, will in the new position effectively be the prefect of his colleagues, and will report directly to the President.
“The committee will provide supervisory leadership throughout the delivery cycle of all national government programmes and projects.
They will monitor and evaluate the follow-up mechanisms for resources allocated for national government priority programmes and projects, to ensure proper utilisation and realisation of the targeted outcomes,” the President said in his Executive Order Number 1 of 2019 dated January 21.
In his speech in Mombasa before the Executive Order was made public, President Kenyatta said the changes were being made to align all ministries to adopt a ‘One-Government Approach Policy.”
Besides the sweeping powers he will have as the chairman of the committee, Dr Matiang’i was also given a huge chunk of James Macharia’s Transport ministry.
Is Ruto beign told to pack ?