Former Public Service CS Moses Kuria has faulted bureaucracy for derailing development activities in the country.
Speaking on Monday night, Kuria said this has hindered the country's progress.
He gave an example of when he worked at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry where he could travel around the world looking for investors but onboarding the investors would become costly.
“The bureaucracy in government is terrible. Sometimes you want to do the right things. Sometimes you wonder, do those people even care? Sometimes you go out there, investors have options where to take their money, they choose Kenya. You go to America, Europe, Asia to all continents you convince them, and you think you have bagged this huge investor.
“You come back home and try to work through the system that is supposed to make that (investment) happen. I’ve got investors who have spent millions of dollars on travel and sometimes you wonder, those are the investments that are going to create jobs,” Kuria said in an interview.
The former CS noted that with investors having a choice to relocate to another country, the time is nigh for the Kenya government to rethink its bureaucracy.
He said it makes him say that there are people in government who would never say yes to trying out any good idea that can help create jobs for the youth.
Kuria further wished that the newly appointed CSs will find an enabling environment in government that has people who are willing to do the right thing to develop the country from its current state.
“It makes me sad about this country. We need to have a big conversation on this, it’s like some people in government are trained to say no. Sometimes you wonder if it is because they don’t love the country or something like that.
“I do hope that the new set of Cabinet is going to find an environment where people really want to do the right things,” he said.
Kuria is among the Cabinet Secretaries who were dismissed by President William Ruto on July 11, 2024.
After the dismissal, at least 10 who formerly served in the Cabinet were reappointed, but Kuria was among those who did not make it back.
During the interview, however, he said he was proud of his achievements and soon the results will be seen.
