African successes : four public managers of Kenyan rural development / David K. Leonard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leonard, David K., 1941-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Management.

Kenya--Economic policy.

Kenya.

Economic policy.

Rural development--Kenya.

Rural development.

Kenya--Politics and government--1963-1978.

Politics and government.

Kenya--Politics and government--1978-2002.

Management--Kenya.

Physical Description:

xxxi, 375 pages, 26 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 1991.

Summary:

For the past twenty-five years Kenya has progressed while most of Africa has stagnated. Instead of the economic disasters, underdevelopment, and serious food shortages that have plagued its neighbors, Kenya has enjoyed an expanding economy and agriculture. And instead of a corrupt and incompetent public administration, Kenya has established several successful rural development programs run by public servants with integrity and professional commitment.

What accounts for these Kenyan successes? In this innovative study, David Leonard illustrates the way public policy is made and implemented in Kenya by focusing on four public officials who have had a great impact on rural development. He skillfully weaves his analyses of Kenya's political, economic, and administrative systems into evocative biographical portraits of Charles Karanja, General Manager of the Kenya Tea Development Authority, Harris Mule, administrative head of Finance and Planning, Ishmael Muriithi, head of the Veterinary Department, and Simeon Nyachae, Cabinet Secretary and chief of the Civil Service. The result is a fascinating glimpse of Kenyan political life from the inside, set in the context of the historical and social forces that have shaped that country's government.

Contents:

Simplified Family Trees of the Administrators Studied xxviii

1. Introduction: Individuals, Institutions, and Interests 1

An Example of Successful Management 1

Successful Managers 3

Rural Development Policies 4

The Nature and Evolution of the Kenyan State 6

A Modest Theoretical Framework 7

Four Public Servants 10

2. The Foundation 15

Everything Has a History 15

Disruption 16

The Agricultural Economy 18

The Missions 21

Colonial African Administration 26

The Emerging African Social Structure 34

Monopoly and Control 36

3. Growing Up and Out of Colonialism 39

Charles Kibe Karanja 39

Mau Mau from Kiambu 46

Simeon Nyachae 47

The Political Struggle for Independence 51

Ishmael Muriithi 54

Dan Mbogo 60

Harris Mutio Mule 63

4. Independence and the Emerging Class Structure 73

The Political Background to the Republic 73

The Colonial Class Structure 73

Ethnic Tensions 77

Africanization of the Civil Service 81

Africanization and the Four Administrators 82

Did "Tribalism" Overlay Africanization in the Civil Service? 86

Africanizing Land Ownership 90

Class Formation and the Matajiri 93

Administrators and Land 95

Africanizing Commerce and Industry 97

Interests: The Interaction of Class and Ethnicity 100

5. Nyachae and Administrative Power in the Kenyatta State 103

The Institutional Legacy 103

Nyachae and the Provincial Administration 106

Administration of Land 107

Political Representation and Control 110

The Balance of Administrative and Political Power 113

The Weberian Theory of Administrative Power Applied to Kenya 117

6. Karanja and the Kenya Tea Development Authority 125

Success and Institutional Inheritance 125

Karanja's Rise through the Ranks 129

Karanja's General Managership 133

The KTDA Expands into Factory Management 137

7. Muriithi and the Dairy Industry 145

The Creation of a Smallholder Dairy Industry 145

Dairy Marketing 147

Artificial Insemination 150

Veterinary Care 156

What of Integration? 160

Beef Production 163

8. The Moi Presidencies and Their Impact on Karanja and Muriithi 168

The Succession 168

Bureaucratic Power under the New Regime 169

Karanja's Fall from Grace 171

The "Second" Moi Presidency 176

Muriithi Presides over the Decline in Veterinary Services 177

9. Rural Development, Decentralization, and Mule's 183

Apprenticeship Equity and the ILO Report 183

Rural Development 190

Decentralization 196

The Special Rural Development Program 196

The Arid and Semi-Arid Lands Program 198

10. Nyachae, Mule, District Focus, and Agriculture 202

District Focus 203

Agricultural Prices and Markets 209

Economic Management in Adversity 215

11. The Unofficial Lives 220

Workaholics 221

Sons of Their Villages 222

Patronage 224

Harambee, Patronage, and Politics 228

Nyachae's Political Downfall 233

Ill-gotten Gains? 236

Class and the Next Generation 242

12. African Managerial Success: Conclusions about Individuals 248

The Varieties of Management 248

Public Policies 249

Organizational Leadership 249

Internal Administration 250

Bureaucratic Hygiene 250

Can Managers Affect the Performance of Their Organizations? 251

The Policy Responsibilities of Management 252

Can Individual Managers Make a Difference? 255

The Attributes of Successful Kenyan Management 256

Political Connections and Organizational Autonomy 257

Professional Concern with Public Policy and Organizational Mission 259

Professional Integrity 260

Access to Donor Resources 261

Africanization 262

Being a "Nationalist" 264

Staff Management 265

Competition and Management Information Systems 266

Delegation 267

Risk Taking 268

Drive 269

Selection Policy and Organizational Performance 269

Problems with the Current Kenyan Analysis 269

Kenyatta's Selection Policies 270

Moi's Personnel Policies 271

Internationalizing Professionalism 272

13. The State and Administrative Development: Conclusions about Institutions and Interests 275

The State 275

The Political Forces Directing the State 277

The State as a "Commons" 279

The Forces Directing the State from Within 283

Socialization 284

Institutionalization 288

Political Responsiveness 292

The Strong State 295

What of This Can Be Generalized? 297

Appendix A. Ethnic Determinants of Civil Service Promotions 303

Appendix B. Bureaucratic Influences and the Regional Allocation of Government Services 306

Anecdotes and Questions 307

Methodology for the Study of Influence 308

Regional Allocations: The Dependent Variable 312

Categories of Cause: The Independent Variables 313

The Quantitative Evidence 315.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

0520070755

0520070763

OCLC:

21672465