President William Ruto read the riot act to members of the executive who arrived late for the signing of performance contracts at State House, Nairobi.
President Ruto hosted Cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries, heads of parastatals and other senior government officials for the signing of performance contracts on Tuesday, August 1.
According to an official programme released by State House Press Secretary Emmanuel Talam, the event was to begin at exactly 8:00 a.m.
Addressing the latecomers, the head of state demanded a written explanation on his desk.
"These performance contracts have been going on for 28 years so people may mistakenly think that it is a ritual. That is why people resolve to the old, incompetent excuses, that there was traffic, for them not to be in the most important public function.
“For those who came late and are members of the Executive, I will be expecting a written explanation and it should not include matters of traffic, on why they do not take these performance contacts seriously,” he said.
By the time President Ruto was leaving his desk, among those who were not called to sign their performance contracts were Interior CS Kithure Kindiki and his Trade counterpart Moses Kuria.
The head of state reiterated that all government officials are obligated to fulfil the terms included in their contracts and failure to do so will lead to termination.
He whipped the senior government officials to complete stalled projects, increase productivity, and deliver the campaign pledges in line with the bottom-up economic transformation.
He noted that Kenyans had grown tired of unfulfilled promises and many had a perception that government projects were just schemes to siphon money through tenders.
“It will not be business as usual. I made a promise to Kenyans that there is no money to steal,” he stated.
President Ruto also challenged government officials to be informed about their dockets stressing that many did not know what goes on in their departments.
“The moment I know more than you in your ministry then you must begin to understand that something is very wrong. Because by the constitution, you are supposed to advise me. Explain to me how you are going to advise me if you have less information than I do,” Ruto stated.
The head of state termed the lack of adequate knowledge about one's job as the highest level of incompetence.
During his speech, DP Rigathi Gachagua said that President Ruto would not allow friendship to come between his mandate to deliver on his campaign promises.
DP Gachagua added that former politicians appointed by the head of state should be aware that their relationship with President Ruto would be on the basis of delivering on their performance contracts.
"I saw the people who were late then looked at the president's face and immediately knew there was trouble. Today is a very important day and you arrive here while the president is seated, as who? These are things I don't understand," he spoke.
Gachagua stated that since assuming office, he has been late for only one meeting and at the time, President Ruto had revised his schedule and causing the mix up.
He reiterated that his boss was keen to renew his contract with Kenyans in 2027 and thus would not let anyone compromise his plan.