Construction Manager, the Ubermensch of Kenyan Construction

Kenya

2 min read

Construction managers, project managers and their association are well within their rights to stop asking other professionals about their future and start making their own future.

NAIROBI, Kenya, August 18, 2023/-- Back in university, we used to respectfully call our colleagues in the built environment, construction management students, “ConMan” (a canny abbreviation). In the guise of this witty or sarcastic term, I later found out in practice that the perception had evolved to a devious innuendo and undue looking down on.

It might have been their shrewd and upbeat approach to the construction industry? Maybe their constructive hustle? Maybe their keen as a bean eye of the zeitgeist? (I hope to know one day)

The past few months, there have been many heated discussions about the fate of the construction manager and his or her profession in Kenya. Some of these interactions have degenerated to the issue of competence and the quality of training (higher learning versus vocational training).

This reminds me of a running twitter trope that says, “law should be taught as a second degree”. It might sound funny or witty but it's a subtle jibe to belittle a profession many have access to while understanding little of its pedagogy and application.

Construction managers, project managers and their association are well within their rights to stop asking other professionals about their future and start making their own future. The proposed Construction Management and Construction Project Management Bill 2023 (albeit my reservations about its content and approach) shows their urge to forge a path forward.

At times, they can be perceived as “Nurses without Portfolio”. A regular nurse has a defined job description and he or she is integral to the operation of a health facility. In Kenya we have witnessed that when nurses go on strike the entire healthcare system grounds to a halt. Would the striking of CMs and CPMs cripple a project in Thindigua?

Having personally built relationships in these two fields and seen them at work, I believe they should be given enough space to thrive. They are of necessity to the construction process and predominantly its execution.

They are also very reliable and every player in the AEC industry wants them or wants to be them. Be it Architects and Engineers (as construction administrators), developers (as site managers and forepersons), standalone contractors (as they're), and clients (as clerk of works).

Gatekeeping

The issue of gatekeeping and self-preservation comes from both sides of the divide and should be addressed. If you have had the chance to listen to the bill’s main proponents in seminars, social media (twitter in particular), and op-eds in the dailies, you can see these insinuations.

Some may suggest tacitly that the gatekeeping is orchestrated from the loftiest of our industry, but I'm convinced it's the “mid-block” (home of defensive career and social climbers), that's our stumbling block. Should it be tamed or be asked to wake up and smell the coffee?

As I end, I wish to sound a general warning to cliques that court regulation and regulators without a proper framework and subject matter. You're just forming exclusive clubs to shield your incompetence and insecurities while locking out others in an industry that tolerates you. Don't create barriers to entry where you found none.

By Phineahs Munene

email feedback to phineahs [at] wazomoja.com

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