George Kebaso and Alvin Mwangi

Twelve professional bodies led by the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) have protested state proposal to establish an Institute of Certified Managers terming it too obvious, unnecessary and confusing.

They cited four grounds that inform their opposition to the proposed establishment of the institute, noting that the Certified Managers’ Bill 2021, which is before the National Assembly, is a wrong assumption that being a manager is a profession.

In addition to their protests early Friday, the professional bodies have presented a memorandum containing the grounds on which they are opposing the state plan to the National assembly and copied the same to the Attorney General, Kihara Kariuki.

Jointly through Joseph Onyango, IHRM Chairman, the professional bodies expressed satisfaction in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and its provisions which include continued direction and guidance on ethics and professionalism in Kenya.

“In cognizance of the above facts, we reject the establishment of the Institute of Certified Managers as proposed under the Certified Managers Bill, 2021 currently before the National Assembly,” he said at a Nairobi hotel.

Onyango was accompanied by representatives from the Federation of Employers of Kenya (FKE); Association of Professional Societies in East Africa (APSEA), Kenya Institute of Supplies Management (KISM), Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB), Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ), Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), and Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK) among others.

The Kenya Nursing Council (KNC), Nairobi NGO HR Roundtable and the Institute of Certified Secretaries (ICS) were also represented.

“The recent publication of a Parliamentary Bill to establish the Institute of Certified Managers has rekindled the longstanding debate on whether or not management is a profession. In fact as professionals we rejecting the proposal on the grounds that the Bill seeking to establish it has no clarity on the Profession in question and therefore it may be misinterpreted,” Chairman, APSEA Felix Okatch said.

He noted the Bill has no basis on which employees are classified as “Certified Managers”. “This is ambiguous as there is no certification system. The functions of the Institute to regulate an illegitimate profession that has no specific area of expertise is illogical and subject to abuse,” he added.

The professional bodies are also opposed to the Bill because it lacks clarity on professional examinations to be certified by the proposed Institute.

For an occupation to become a profession, the professionals argued that it must have a common body of knowledge; a certification system of the knowledge; methods of using the knowledge for the public good and mechanisms for enforcing an ethical code of conduct.

“Boundaries of the body of knowledge and skills in management do not exist,” Okatch added.

The Bill was moved by Homa Bay Woman Representative, Gladys Wanga,

But IHRM argues that before it becomes law, the Bill needs to interpret properly who is a “Certified Manager”, since it assumes that all managers regardless of their profession would be eligible members of the Institute.

“The Bill is wrongly premised on an assumption that a manager is a profession yet management is a level within the hierarchy of leadership. The management hierarchy comprise of Top Level managers, Middle Level Manager and Lower Level Managers which technically makes everybody in the organisation, a manager,” Onyango noted.

He said on this basis, there is a potential conflict when a professional is faced with a disciplinary process and penalties from their respective membership body.

He concluded that management practice does not meet the threshold to qualify as a profession and to demand issuance of Practicing Licenses.

“Requiring employees or consultants, who are engaged in managerial activities to apply for one would be redundant,” he argued further.

Issuance of such certificates, Onyango said, will not demonstrate at all possession of employable competencies.