African Successes

Four Public Managers of Kenyan Rural Development

David K. Leonard

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780520070769
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780520343115
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: African History
• Index: History

For the past twenty-five years Kenya has progressed while much 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.
For the past twenty-five years Kenya has progressed while much 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

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
• LIST OF TABLES
• PREFACE
• ABBREVIATIONS AND GLOSSARY
• ABBREVIATED CHRONOLOGY OF POLITICAL EVENTS IN KENYA
• LIST OF PRINCIPAL PERSONS IN THE BOOK
• SIMPLIFIED FAMILY TREES OF THE ADMINISTRATORS STUDIED
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• CHAPTER ONE Introduction: Individuals, Institutions, and Interests
• CHAPTER TWO The Foundation
• CHAPTER THREE Growing Up and Out of Colonialism
• CHAPTER FOUR Independence and the Emerging Class Structure
• CHAPTER FIVE Nyachae and Administrative Power in the Kenyatta State
• CHAPTER SIX Karanja and the Kenya Tea Development Authority
• CHAPTER SEVEN Muriithi and the Dairy Industry
• CHAPTER EIGHT The Moi Presidencies and Their Impact on Karanja and Muriithi
• CHAPTER NINE Rural Development, Decentralization, and Mule’s Apprenticeship
• CHAPTER TEN Nyachae, Mule, District Focus, and Agriculture
• CHAPTER ELEVEN The Unofficial Lives
• CHAPTER TWELVE African Managerial Success: Conclusions about Individuals
• CHAPTER THIRTEEN The State and Administrative Development: Conclusions about Institutions and Interests
• APPENDIX A Ethnic Determinants of Civil Service Promotions
• APPENDIX B Bureaucratic Influences and the Regional Allocation of Government Services
• APPENDIX C Persons Interviewed
• NOTES
• INDEX OF PERSONS
• INDEX OF SUBJECTS