• The President said the buck stops with CSs and PSs regardless of who makes bad decisions in their ministries.
• “If I want anything from anyone of you, I will call you myself and I can confirm to you it will not be about any transaction, it will be about your performance,” he said.
President William Ruto has told members of his Cabinet that they are individually liable for all decisions made in their respective ministries and should guard against being persuaded to make wrong decisions. https://rb.gy/qrmuo1
Image: PCS
President William Ruto has told members of his Cabinet that they are individually liable for all decisions made in their respective ministries and should guard against being persuaded to make wrong decisions.
Speaking at the closure of the second National Executive Retreat in Naivasha, the President said the buck stops with CSs and PSs regardless of who makes bad decisions in their ministries.
“It doesn’t matter whether somebody called you or somebody threatened you, don’t make the wrong decision,” he said.
The President said should anyone be threatened or coerced by individuals purporting to be his cronies or relatives, they should not hesitate to reach him via his personal mobile line.
“Each and every one of you has my telephone number and it’s only one, I don’t have two. And I believe every Principal Secretary and every Cabinet Secretary has my number,” he said.
“If I want anything from any of you, I will call you myself and I can confirm to you it will not be about any transaction, it will be about your performance.”
The President told the members of his Cabinet that more often than not, integrity issues in ministries have arisen from CSs and PSs being persuaded by people claiming to be close to power to do wrong things.
“On occasions, I have called ministers and Principal Secretaries to warn them whenever I have intelligence that wrong things are about to happen in your state departments,” he said.
"We must deal with the subject of integrity. I must repeat that there is no room or space or opportunity for this administration not to deal with corruption firmly, decisively, and conclusively."
Ruto advised the Cabinet members to always seek guidance from him, the Deputy President, the Prime Cabinet Secretary or the Head of Public Service whenever they are unsure about certain decisions.
The President said Kenyans have high expectations of the Executive courtesy of his track record and anything short of that will be detrimental to the government.
“We cannot allow integrity issues to derail the plan that we have. And their (Kenyans) high expectations are legitimate because they have a track record of my performance so they judge me by a higher standard than would have ordinarily been the case,” he said.
“And because we work together, you are judged by the same standards; very high standards.”
The second National Executive Retreat provided a platform for the President to discuss with his Cabinet the achievements and challenges of his administration and offer a face-to-face engagement between CSs and MPs some of whom do not see eye-to-eye.
The retreat also provided an avenue for Ruto to rally MPs from his Kenya Kwanza camp to pass the contested Affordable Housing Bill, 2023 whose third reading was due on Wednesday.