'Tyranny of numbers' should be employed for public good

In the traditional African setting having many children and wives was priced to the high heavens. A man whose brood and caboodle was replete with children was considered affluent and held in the highest esteem. Such were the men whose opinions were highly regarded. Those who embraced monogamy and had just a handful of children were treated with disdain.

 A number of reasons explain why a large family was desirable in the early days. For starters, the sheer strength of numbers provided cheap labour when it came to duties such as tilling huge swathes of land which were a common phenomenon in those days. The security of a man with several wives and an army of children was also guaranteed. Anyone with plans to raid a home teeming with young men would think twice before embarking on his mission. The desire to be one of the opinion shapers also impelled men to marry many wives and sire many children.

This belief in the strength of numbers is still evident in modern day society. In our time we have a political class whose crave for numbers far surpasses the worth that our great grandparents placed on having several wives and children. Shortly after he was declared the winner of the March 4, 2013 general election, President Uhuru Kenyatta moved to consolidate his powers by incorporating as many MPs and Senators as possible in his camp. He cajoled MPs from fringe parties such as the United Democratic Front among others into joining the Jubilee Coalition. There's nothing dishonourable in the President's move if regard is to be had to the fact that a government that doesn't command numbers in Parliament  can hardly push through its agenda.

Blessed with numbers in Parliament, President Kenyatta has been able to marshal support for the approval of his nominees to various posts. Chances are that government Bills will also sail through without breaking much sweat. Be that as it may, the nomination, vetting, approval and eventual appointment of people to public office by the Jubilee Government has left proponents of good governance brimming with fury. That the President and Parliament would gloss over the credible integrity issues raised by members of the public in regard to some of the nominees and approve their appointment to public office is incredibly rankling.

Take the case of a former top official at a private university whose conduct at the institution of higher learning was seriously called into question. A group of Kenyans even tabled evidence before the Parliamentary committee that vetted him to establish the veracity of their allegations against him. Before the vetting a leading newspaper carried a story implicating him in despicable scandals at the university. With such adverse accusations many believed that his goose was cooked and chances of his appointment to public office were almost nil. But to the great shock and disbelief of advocates of sound governance, he was declared fit to serve and is now ensconced in office, thanks to the 'tyranny of numbers'.

In the normal course of events, meritocracy, competence and, to a certain degree, experience should inform appointments to public office. The world over, anyone who has deputised someone, say the Attorney General, for quite sometime is considered to be in a better position to succeed his boss. But this seems not to be the case in Kenya. When the then Solicitor General, Wanjuki Muchemi left office, applications for his position were invited. Among the applicants was Deputy Solicitor General Muthoni Kimani. Suffice it to mention that Muthoni Kimani has been in the Attorney General's office for more than 20 years rising through the ranks to her current position. She is perhaps the longest serving officer in the AG's office and therefore better versed with what should be done to make it more efficient. But rather than pick Mrs Kimani, President Kenyatta nominated his long-term ally Njee Muturi for the position of Solicitor General.

During his vetting by the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs it was sufficiently clear that Muturi's CV was not as impressive as Mrs Kimani's. Muturi's name was ultimately tabled in Parliament for approval and by virtue of the now famed 'tyranny of numbers' he easily sailed through. He has since been appointed the Solicitor General.

I have nothing personal against the said public officers. As a matter of fact they are as Kenyan as anyone else and are within their constitutionally guaranteed right to occupy public office. But the question that bears interrogation is, what is the purpose of vetting? In my view, vetting is aimed at establishing the suitability of an individual to serve in a particular office. Once it emerges that such an individual is tainted, the honourable thing for him to do is to disqualify himself.

Alternatively, the vetting authority should declare such a person unsuitable. It is unfortunate that rather than serve the public good, the Jubilee Government is employing its numbers in Parliament to push through parochial interests. It should therefore not surprise us that Kenya is one of the few countries where what matters most when it comes to appointments to public office is who you are affiliated to. Matters such as integrity and meritocracy are given short shrift as long as you are in good books of the big boys.

This article was published in the Star Newspaper on July 13,2013