NAIROBI May 10- The two-day induction seminar for Cabinet Ministers and Permanent Secretaries came to a close Saturday afternoon with a call on the participants to rededicate their efforts towards selfless stewardship of the country’s national affairs.
Closing the forum at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies in Nairobi, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka urged leaders to practice servant leadership so as to deliver quality services to Kenyans in tandem with their wishes and aspirations.
Musyoka called on those entrusted with the management of the country’s resources to harmonize their approaches and ensure that they read from the same script in order to effectively fulfill the people’s aspirations.
“This is a day we affirm the change of the rules of the game of leadership and governance by refocusing our efforts to the achievement of the dreams our people have entrusted on us”, said the Vice President.
The Vice President stressed the need to embrace transformation leadership, noting that the livelihood of every Kenyan depended on decisions the leaders made on matters affecting them.
Calls to speak with one voice
Musyoka said it was crucial for leaders to hold constant consultations along the principles of collective responsibility in the management of the grand coalition government.
“We need to help Kenyans shift focus from their ethnic clusters to embrace the spirit of a united country and to nurture peaceful coexistence”, he said.
He also encouraged accounting officers to ensure that their planning, budgetary allocation and expenditure targets to fulfill the common good of the nation.
Musyoka appealed to leaders to rise above individualistic party persuasions and work towards universal goals that would propel the nation to further heights of socio-economic prosperity.
He at the same time urged them to cultivate constant interaction with wananchi so as to know their needs and expectations and serve them effectively.
“Why else do we exist if not to feel the pulse of the nation and interpret it to improve the socio-economic conditions of Kenyans”, he observed.
He however, cautioned leaders against making irresponsible utterances and involvements that could jeopardize the spirit of the grand coalition.
He urged members of the coalition cabinet to uphold responsibility as they discharge their duties saying it is imperative that ministers and members of the coalition government desist from differing publicly.
He says should a member not agree with the government, it would be honourable to step for hi or her down.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula has also echoed similar sentiments urging ministers should speak from the same script.
“We need to red from the same script. We have regrettably had cases where our colleagues speak out of tune”, Wetangula said.
Wetangula also allayed fears that there still loomed protocol issues in the government saying the leadership is clearly defined.
Wetangula said ministers in the coalition government were employing the principal collective responsibility in discharging duties as government.
Grand opposition
On the other hand, Wetangula dismissed calls for a coalition opposition saying there is no constitutional provision for the same.
“Opposition is not about members of parliament coming together in parliament. The real opposition is founded in the constitution and standing orders of parliament, you have to be a party”, Wetangula said.
During the two-day workshop, participants were taken through issues on external relations and protocol, government image and media, performance contracting in the management of public services as well as government contract and agreements among other fields of management.
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