Professional bodies reject proposed managers law

Professional bodies have rejected a new proposal that seeks to identify the managerial role as a profession.

The recommendation is contained in the Certified Managers Bill, 2021 which is currently under the consideration of the National Assembly awaiting the second reading stage.

The bill proposes the establishment of the Institute of Certified Managers in a bid to transition the managerial position into a profession including the establishment of standards and regulation.

However, 11 professional bodies including the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) and the Association of Professional Societies in East Africa (APSEA) argue that the managerial position cannot be a profession as it cuts across various spheres in organisations.

“The bill is wrongly premised on the assumption that a manager is a profession. Management as a level within the hierarchy of leadership in an organisation. Professionalizing management will be problematic as essential skills cannot be assessed standing alone,” said IHRM Chairperson Joseph Onyango.

“There is no clarity on the profession in question opening the bill up for misinterpretation and abuse. Similarly, there is no basis on which employees are classified as certified managers,” added APSEA Chairperson Felix Okatch.

The parties have written a memorandum to both Parliament and the Office of the Attorney General calling for the total rejection of the bill.

Other signatories to the memorandum include the Federation of Kenyan Employers (FKE), the Institute of Supplies Management, Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK), the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU).

While the bill targets to clean up management within local firms and businesses, the professional bodies say the legislation will overstep their mandate by bypassing or duplicating their role.

Onyango who equates the bill to a wrong treatment after a right diagnosis calls for the strengthening of professional bodies and related institutions.

“We need to strengthen existing professional bodies in terms of their professionalism and this would cure all issues the bill intends or imagines it could resolve,” he added.

The Certified Managers Bill is being moved by the Chairperson to the Finance and National Planning Committee Gladys Wanga.