Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo has flagged principal secretaries as the biggest problems in government leading to loss of public funds.
Speaking to a local TV station on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, Maanzo claimed that many principal secretaries in government are incompetent.
According to Maanzo, a lot of corruption in the ministries is orchestrated by principal secretaries whom he says handle money-related affairs.
“One of the biggest problems in the country is permanent secretaries. It is not even the CSs. PSs are the ones who account for, implement, and make sure money assigned to a particular issue has been dealt with. We have ended up with many incompetent PSs in the government although they are vetted through parliament,” Maanzo said.
“When you call them back to parliament to assess what they are doing you find quite a number of them not aware of what they are supposed to be doing. A lot of corruption committed in the country can only be accounted for by principal secretaries. They are the ones who deal with the money in the ministries.”
Currently, principal secretaries are tasked with running the ministries until the new cabinet secretaries nominated by President William Ruto are vetted and approved by parliament.
Following a decision to dissolve his cabinet on July 11, 2024, Ruto tasked principal secretaries with overseeing government affairs normally run by cabinet secretaries.
Recently, Ruto appointed a new batch of cabinet secretaries who are awaiting vetting by parliament before taking over their new roles.
A number of cabinet secretaries who served the Ruto-led government before July 11 were pushed out and replaced with new ones, including four from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party.
ODM party leader Raila Odinga, after the appointment of his top lieutenants, denied allegations that his party had closed ranks with the government. Ruto has also denied having a formal engagement with the opposition party.
Maanzo termed the new cabinet, which comprises of opposition members, as illegal.
“The so-called broad-based government is illegal. ODM must decide whether they are in the Azimio coalition or Kenya Kwanza coalition,” Maanzo said.