This archive report was first published on 28 October 2019.
Published on October 28, 2019, by Nerima Wako-Ojiwa, executive director of Siasa Place.
As Kenyans celebrated Mashujaa Day, the youth were frustrated with rampant corruption and lack of employment, watching former politicians get rewarded with state jobs.
The jokes doing rounds in social media have been scathing on the place of old people in government employment in Kenya, with many board chair appointments being of individuals past retirement age.
One such appointment was to the National Employment Agency of a politician in her late 60s who lost her seat in the past election, but was stopped from assuming the appointment by a group of young parliamentarians.
Even more bizarre was the Kenya Film and Classification Board's announcement of a member to their board who was deceased!
Is there a method to this madness? One wonders.
The law is clear: appointments to state corporations must be made in a transparent and merit-based manner, with due diligence carried out.
However, the recent appointment of a widow, a few hours after her long deceased husband was 'appointed,' did not meet these steps.
With the Punguza Mizigo initiative stopped dead in its tracks, the Building Bridges Initiative report is expected to address the issues pinching Kenyans, but will it connect with the people and prove its legitimacy?
As Nerima Wako-Ojiwa notes, 'If the BBI does not connect with the people, it will be swallowed up, chewed and quickly spat out of the very mouths.'
Nerima Wako-Ojiwa is executive director of Siasa Place. Twitter: @NerimaW
