NEWS
December 15, 2005
Posted to the web December 15, 2005
By David Okwembah, Claire Gatheru, Jeff Otieno, Patrick Nzioka and Sollo Kiragu
Nairobi
Fears were raised yesterday that President Kibaki's new Cabinet could increase the Government's wage bill to the point that it would either bust the Budget or endanger development projects.
With an 85 member team 34 Cabinet ministers and 49 assistant ministers - Mr Kibaki has given Kenya its biggest Government since Independence 43 years ago.
Shadow Finance minister Billow Kerrow said the taxpayer would have to find an extra Sh5 billion to pay for the cost of four new ministries created to woo back MPs from Ford-Kenya and the National Party of Kenya.
This money would have to come either from the existing Budget of around Sh400 billion or be taken from the additional Sh100 billion already earmarked for developments like new roads, hospitals and schools, he said.
His estimate was based on the cost of the ministers' pay and perks, plus providing new offices, recruiting staff and security officers and buying new vehicles for them and their assistants.
Mr Kerrow, the Kanu MP for Mandera Central, added the move was against the published Economic Recovery Strategy of 2003 in which the Government promised to streamline the civil service, including its ministries.
Two ministers defended the size of the new Cabinet, however, adding that the President had the power to name who he wanted in his team and to determine its number.
Ministers Simeon Nyachae and Chirau Ali Mwakwere said separately the Cabinet was expanded to improve its service to the public.
With 83 out of the 222 voting MPs on his side, Mr Kibaki needs to find only a further 29 votes to defeat any motion of no confidence in his Government.
His majority will also ensure Government business is not stalled by a hostile Parliament after he sacked rebel ministers who campaigned against the Draft constitution in the November 21 referendum.
But this cushion for the President comes at a cost.
With ministers pocketing a salary of Sh585,000 a month plus a host of perks that pushes their rewards to more than Sh1 million a month, an average of Sh410 million will be incurred annually on their benefits alone. And to that must be added the cost of the assistant ministers, permanent secretaries and other staff.
The increase of the Cabinet to a record 34 ministries runs counter to the President's own stated position when he was Leader of the Official Opposition between 1997 and 2002. Then he consistently insisted on a Cabinet of no more than 15 ministers.
A critic of a fat government, which had ballooned to 31 Cabinet ministers under President Moi, Mr Kibaki regularly demanded leaner government.
The nation's founding father, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, maintained a team of only 12 ministers when Kenya became independent in 1963.
The number of his ministers increased to 19 when Kenya became a republic in December 1964.
By the time of his death on August 22, 1978, President Kenyatta still had only 20 Cabinet ministers including the then Attorney-General, Mr Charles Njonjo.
On assuming leadership and after the 1979 General Election, his successor President Moi appointed 26 ministers including Mr Njonjo as the AG.
On his election in 2002, Kenyans expected President Kibaki to live up to his previous words and form a Cabinet of 15 ministers.
However, he started with 26 Cabinet ministers and 30 assistants ... and by the time of dissolving his Cabinet three weeks ago, his Cabinet had risen to 30.
Finance minister David Mwiraria and his permanent secretary Joseph Kinyua were said to be away in meetings and unavailable therefore to comment on the cost of the huge new government structure or whether it would or would not bust the Budget.
That cost, in addition to offices, staff and security, will include perks such as two vehicles for each minister, a car for each PS. Each is also entitled to a Government house in a plush estate and space for their staff.
On top of that, under the newly negotiated medical terms, ministers are entitled to medical cover for at least two spouses and eight children plus responsibility allowance, and travelling and constituency allowances like all the other MPs.
Mr Kerrow at his news conference at Parliament Buildings yesterday said the Economic Recovery Strategy announced by the Government had sought to limit the number of ministers to 15.
He warned that the new appointments were being made to satisfy political needs and not purely on merit.
"Appointments in the civil service have now become political undermining the Public Service Ethics Act which stresses merit," he said.
The MP said the move would be risky for the country at a time when the civil service was supposed to be fair.
Though the Code of Ethics for civil servants required that they uphold integrity, Mr Kerrow said, some would defy it and instead base their allegiance on petty political party interests.
"I foresee some civil servants being demoralised as some appointments will not be based on merit but on political interests," he added.
Ministers involved in scandals had gone scot-free contrary to the code which demanded they be punished.
Narc ministers were wasteful and extravagant, Mr Kerrow added, and none would honour the demands of the code that they be prudent in financial management.
He also asked the Government to investigate all ministers who had been involved in scandals
On the creation of new districts, the shadow finance minister said the Government would have to budget for an extra Sh100 billion to fund the extra 27 district.
Currently, the MP said the Government used Sh400 billion for the 71 districts.
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