President William Ruto has asked two cabinet secretaries who failed to sign performance contracts due to tardiness to explain their reasons in writing.
The President, who was enraged after Interior CS Kithure Kindiki and his Trade counterpart Moses Kuria were locked out of State House, demanded an explanation.
“I don’t understand why one can miss such an important event which is surrounding their work. If you cannot keep time with your employer you have basically dismissed yourself,” Ruto said.
The Head of state further said that the locked-out CSs should personally write to him explaining why they were late.
“For those who came late and they are members of the Executive, I will be expecting a written explanation and it should not include matters of traffic on why they did not take these performance contracts seriously because if you don’t take them seriously it means that we don’t take the contract with the people of Kenya on performance seriously and that can be a very serious indictment on anybody.”
He lectured the executive members that he cannot tolerate flimsy errors from leaders who have been entrusted with a huge responsibility to serve Kenyans, and that they must act with integrity.
“I don’t know whether it is this performance contracts that have been going on for 20 years that many people maybe mistakenly think that it is a ritual and that is why people resort to the old incompetent excuses that there was traffic for them not to be in the most important public function,” he said.
“We have a job because we have a contract, if you cannot keep time with your employer you have basically dismissed yourself, it is just as simple as that,” he added.
According to an official programme released by State House Press Secretary Emmanuel Talam, the event was to begin at exactly 8 am.
This meant that all the CSs and their Principal Secretaries were to be seated early enough before the official time when the event would start.
Speaking during the event, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua warned CSs and PSs over lateness saying that there cannot be any justification for that.
“I saw some were late, and I looked at the President in the eye and realised that there would be trouble for them,” Gachagua said.
“You can’t arrive at an event when the President is already seated. Why would you come late? How do you explain that? Who did you go to see and yet today was the most important day for you to sign contracts?”
