Peter Mbae, former head of the Government Delivery Services (GDS), surprised many by resigning. Peter Mbae emphasized that his decision to resign as head of Government Delivery Services was not made hastily. Photo: William Ruto/Peter Mbae. Source: Twitter In his resignation letter dated January 9 to Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, Mbae cited unresolved issues. Why did Peter Mbae resign from office? Speaking to NTV on Monday, January 13, Mbae said he presented a proposal to his superiors after his appointment on restructuring delivery within the Kenya Kwanza government, but the plan was allegedly not adopted.
“We discovered there are so many offices doing the same thing. And I said it is not possible. I said unless we are doing this so that every office can feel that they are doing this to please the head of state. I asked if we could help the president in a better way by collapsing these small things. Now a lot of what I proposed was not done,” Mbae outlined. Mbae added the department he worked in faced significant structural issues and frustrations, and that he chose to step down to protect the good reputation he had built over nearly twenty years. He stated he did not want to be associated with the department if he could not effectively deliver on the promises made by the Kenya Kwanza government to Kenyans. “If the work can’t be done, I don’t want to be associated with it. One day, someone will ask me why I didn’t deliver. I’ll say I had issues, and then they’ll ask me why I didn’t raise them. I better speak early to say I don’t think the Government Delivery Services is going to produce the results that we promised Kenyans,” he added.
Mbae said his decision to resign was not made overnight but had been on his mind for six months. He added that because his appointment was highly publicised, he felt it necessary to announce his resignation publicly to clarify that he no longer works in service delivery. “Nobody will stop me to ask me anything about this government. It is not possible to do development in a toxic political environment. Anytime development sees conflicts, it runs away. You can only serve, do projects and programmes when people are at peace and they are appreciating.”
by Faith Chandianya
