Assistant Ministers in Kenya want more work and ......

Assistant Ministers in Kenya are reported to have lodged complaints with the government for being underutilized and having no clear mandate. Over the last few weeks many of them have threatened to resign unless something is done to ensure that they are given the respect that they deserve. The latest of this saga has seen them meeting with President Mwai Kibaki, asking him to evoke Section 24 of the Constitution, which gives the President the powers to fill or abolish a constitutional office. They want him to change both their title to Deputy Ministers as well as outline clear job description for their offices. So far it seems very progressive for ministers to come up to demand more work. But then, it is mind-boggling that government ministers would be appointed without a clear definition of their job descriptions.

What in fact are these ministers being paid for if they do not know what they must be doing? Is it not a grand robbery of the common Kenyan man and woman that these highly paid, chauffeur-driven, so called Assistant ministers are getting a salary without much to show for it? As the wise people say, an idle mind is a dangerous mind. I would not be surprised if these guys spent the good part of their days misusing state resources for personal gain given that they have no specific outcomes they must deliver. Every job in the world requires one to at least show some kind of deliverable, and to think that these people in such high offices do not even have an appointment letter that states their duties really breaks my heart. What breaks my heart even more is how the Kenyan government is quick to cry about lack of resources when in fact resources are being misdirected to salaries that do not in any way serve the interests of Kenyans. If these guys' roles are undefined, whose idea was it to hire them in the first place? While I feel sorry for the ministers, my condolences go to the Kenyans for the death of common sense in the government and that of the trust entrusted to the government by the people. If the ministers can't figure out what to do, may be they should all be fired and the money sent to Kisumu to build schools or something of value. Now that I think about it, the size of many African governments is actually appalling. You have ministers without portfolio, ministers without common sense, ministers without cell phones, what on God's earth are you people doing for Africa?