Are two ministries twice as good?

August 10, 2009

Just finished up lunch with senior Kenyan health officials. Our goal was to learn more about the big issues facing the health care system across Kenya, as well as how U.S. investments have made a difference -- and what challenges remain. But a question that loomed over the discussion was the fact that, as part of the resolution of post-election violence back in January 2008, the national cabinet was expanded to 40 and then split evenly between President Kibaki's PNU party and Prime Minister Odinga's ODM party. The upshot is that the Ministry of Health was divided into the Ministry for Public Health and Sanitation, led by PNU member Beth Mugo, and the Ministry for Medical Services, led by ODM member Peter Anyang' Nyong'o. The division goes all the way down to the local level.

We hope to share the content of these discussions soon.