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Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen.[File, Standard]
Nothing describes Onesmus Kipchumba Murkomen more aptly than the adjective 'feckless'. As Cabinet Secretary (CS), his deportment makes one acutely aware of how public offices in Kenya are decomposing from within. What the Constitution under Article 73 treats as a solemn public trust has, under the current arrangement, become a tradable commodity dispensed for loyalty.
Cabinet posts are rarely filled on the strength of expertise anymore. They are given as rewards for partisan fidelity that overrides competence every time. Vetting by the National Assembly, envisaged as a Chapter Six integrity filter, has become a choreographed ritual of deference. The public ultimately foots the bill for administrative blunders, open impunity, and slow institutional decay.
Nothing illustrates the breakdown more clearly than repeated moments when senior functionaries step outside constitutional roles or show how out of depth they are. Mr Murkomen has been shifted from one high-stakes docket to another, from Roads to Interior, and slips, flashes of excess, and inflammatory comments at the worst times have marked each stint. From lecturing mourners to rationalising police excesses.
