Public servants living in mortal fear of politicians

Early last month, Kitui East MP Nimrod Mbai dominated the headlines when a video in which he appeared to be assaulting a Kenya Power worker went viral.

The Engineer had led a team of Kenya Power staff to disconnect an illegal power line at the legislator’s home in Kitengela, Kajiado County.

In the video, Mbai can be seen berating the Kenya Power staff before taking the conflict a notch higher by landing slaps on the engineer.

The Kitengela incident denotes a growing wave of cases of humiliation public servants are going through in the hands of senior State officials.

Early this year, former Nakuru police commander Peter Mwanzo was reprimanded by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for overseeing the eviction of 105 families from a parcel of land which they had illegally occupied in Kiriko village, of Rongai.

The DP, who announced immediate recall of Mwanzo amidst threats of serious action, accused the officer of being insensitive to the plight of families noting that before evicting the families, police should have deliberated on the available temporary relocation plans.

“ We’ve already removed the county police commander who oversaw the operations and we will take action against him,” Gachagua said: “I want to tell officers who have such habits to change immediately. The regime of oppression and brutal evictions is a thing of the past.”

And in defiance of court orders, the DP led an operation to reconstruct houses demolished by an auctioneer who had obtained orders from court to evict the squatters.

Like Mwanzo, reports indicate that several senior police officers across the country have been transferred under the instigation of powerful politicians.

Late last year, an air of panic swept across Mt Kenya region, particularly in Mathira, after some chiefs allegedly received calls from the DP to fire them for allegedly supporting Azimio la Umoja in the last General Election.

Gachagua was also in the news with his directive to Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja to allow Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) or matatus to access the central business district.

“There is no governor I cannot tell what they need to do and that is outlined in the Executive Order issued by the President, that I’m the bridge between the national and county governments,” said Gachagua.
But it is the more recent spectacle of Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha “ordering” the transfer of Matisi OCS John Thuo which has shocked many.

She was reacting to clashes between two groups in the Matisi area during anti-government protests staged by the Opposition.

One government
Nakhumicha claimed she had the powers to effect the change citing President William Ruto’s “one-government” approach designed to enhance coordination in government.

“We don’t require Interior CS (Kithure) Kindiki to be here so that an OCS can be transferred. I am in Ruto’s government and I stand here as his representative, so I order that the County commander to listen and if he’s not here, let the information reach him. I have said that in 24 hours, the OCS needs to have been transferred,” she stated.

“I am informed that the OCS is here, he has heard what I have said. This is not a laughing matter, Mr. OCS those are the instructions. I will just go and report to my colleague, Kindiki, the action that I have taken,” she added.

According to the National Police Service Act, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) is responsible for disciplinary actions against officers.

In a statement, the Police Reforms Working Group has condemned the CS on grounds that she overstepped her mandate by assigning herself the human resources role of the police employer.

“We would like to point out clearly that the National Police Service Commission is the police employer, in charge of the human resources function… We remind the CS, and all state and public officers that public lynching is not part of the principles of security governance nor of policing in our democracy,” the statement read.

Last month, Trade CS Moses Kuria received flak from Kenyans when he threatened to sack government officials who approved any advertisement to the Nation Media Group.

“I have stated that starting tomorrow, if I see any government agency placing adverts in Nation Media, the person responsible will be fired,” he added.

And early this year, Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei asked President Ruto to formulate a system to determine civil servants who did not vote for Kenya Kwanza in the last election so that they could be sacked.

According to political analyst Mark Bichange, the Kenya Kwanza leadership has exhibited vindictiveness, arrogance and anger.

“It is unfortunate that the President and his deputy have been leading by example in this respect. They appear to assume all those who didn’t vote for them are their enemies,” he said.

Bichange also explains that some of the people in government are yet to understand their role, saying they behave like activists. “When you get to power, you need to behave responsibly, with some civility,” says Bichange.

According to Tom Odege, the Secretary General of the Union of Kenya Servants, though they have been monitoring the attacks by some government officials on their members, no one has been sacked yet, with only a few transferred.

“So far, nobody has been sacked. We have told our members to ignore the threats and concentrate on their work unless they receive letters of interdiction or sacking,” says Odege.
Senior civil servants have also been on record embarrassing their juniors by rebuking them in public.

During last year’s Jamhuri Day celebrations in Mombasa, the then Mombasa County Commissioner John Otieno berated chiefs for failing to turn up for the event.

Otieno, who was annoyed by the low turnout, accused chiefs and village elders of failing to mobilize residents to attend the celebrations.

“The chiefs and village elders have failed us. I want to know those who failed to attend so that I can write letters to them. They are the people who should ensure more people attend national celebrations,” an furious Otieno said.

MPs too, have not been left behind in the trend of leaders throwing their weight around. In Mombasa, the head teacher of Badi Twalib Primary School in Jomvu found herself in trouble when area MP Badi Twalib stormed a parents meeting at the school and demanded his transfer for allegedly charging extra costs.

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