Public Service to undergo major reforms

Naivasha,

Saturday, October 28, 2023,

KNA by Mabel Keya – Shikuku / Erastus Gichohi

The Ministry of Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management is set to launch a Public Service Transformation Rapid Results Initiative (PSTRSI) to help improve service delivery in the public sector.

The programme which kicks off from November 1, this year to June 30, 2024 will seek to implement various pledges which the Government has made to Kenyans through the Bottom- up Transformation Agenda (BETA) and improve the lives of Kenyans especially in the lower economic cadre.

Making the announcement in Naivasha on Friday, the Ministry of Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kiarie Kuria said that one of the pledges the Government will endeavor to fulfil during the period is make the Government accountable to the people through Wajibika town hall sessions that will be held in all counties.

He was speaking during the 27th Annual National Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) Conference whose theme is; “HR revolution: unlocking & enabling human potential.”  

Further, the Government will roll out a digital tool for tracking performance contracts, projects delivery and execution and individual performance of all its 900,000 workforce where the civil servants will share their performance results with the public monthly and modernise the Public Service by replacing retiring public servants with young Kenyans while ensuring an 80:20 Ratio between Technical Staff and Support Staff.

“We will implement a digital Ombudsman tool to be known as Pasha for the public to report all cases of denial of or poor service by national and county government institutions and avail all such incidents for public and media scrutiny in a bid to make the public servants more accountable to the tax payers,” Kuria said.

Further to these reforms, the CS said the Government will also transform the National Youth Service (NYS) into a bastion of hope for young people by making it a mandatory leadership college for those who will be absorbed into public service and disciplined forces while also playing the role of contractor of choice for national and county governments as well as the private sector in Kenya and abroad, while recruiting 100,000 youths directly every year and creating an ecosystem of one Million indirect jobs.

Kuria also Stated that the Government was keen to make Kenya to be a thought leader in Governance by converting the Kenya School of Government into the African School of Government while taking lead in emerging issues such as Strategic Peace, Green Finance, African Integration, Democracy and Human Rights and create a Web of global partnerships and alliances to support Africa Union Agenda 2063 and providing intellectual support to Africa's new role in a reformed global governance architecture.

“We also promise to give every Kenyan an opportunity to work for government irrespective of social, economic or political status through a digital, transparent and verifiable hiring tool through a public portal that will distribute available opportunities across the country while seeking to enjoin the Private Sector and Overseas recruiters to use the same transparent platform for jobs and Internships under the mantra 'Jobo Bila `Connection’,” the CS revealed.

He also announced that the Government will expand the Huduma Network to all the corners of Kenya and the range of services to cover all the 5,000 government processes available online while extending the client base to the domestic and international private sector by making Huduma Centres one of the globally leading providers of E-Commerce and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). 

The CS observed that Kenya is home to a first-class human capital and the Government will continue to engage foreign companies to tap into Kenyan’s manpower.         

He also said his ministry will collaborate with the institute of Human Resources Management to ensure the HR professionals working within the government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies are registered and all human resource managers are certified with the relevant professional bodies that meets global standards. This, Kuria added will ensure that matters involving their employees are addressed professionally through the set standards and policies.    

The CS raised concern over high unemployment rate among the youth calling for openness and transparency in the employment sector under the guidance of human resources managers to give equal opportunities.

Kuria also noted that the government has already rolled out an internship program that continues to give young graduates formal skills and experience adding that the government now targets to put 20,000 interns through a year-long skills improvement in the public sector by next year and called on the private sector to replicate the move by opening doors of internship programs that will benefit thousands of graduates. To this end, he added that the Ministry is working with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to consider offering tax incentives to private sector organization that will offer internship opportunities in future. 

He called on Human Resources managers to ensure the prompt contribution of their employees’ pension savings to the new National Social Security Fund (NSSF) which has now been capped at 12 percent where employees contribute six percent matched by the employer. This he said will increase the national savings/investments towards the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. 

“We will undertake a reform of State Corporations and State-Owned Enterprises with a view to cutting wastage and burden to the taxpayers while making them play a supporting role in achieving the objectives of the National Government by eliminating hand-offs and red tape in all Ministries, Departments and Sagas (MDAs) to ensure compliance with HR policies. Certified HR certification will be mandatory in all government MDAs for HR professionals, “said Kuria.

During the period of the programme, the Government will also undertake reform of State Corporations and State-Owned Enterprises with a view to cutting wastage and burden to the taxpayers while at the same time making them play supporting role in achieving the objectives of the National Government.

The Principal Secretary in the State Department for Public Service Amos Gathecha on his part while addressing over 1,000 human resources personnel gathered in Naivasha from both public and private sectors termed human resources personnel as a critical workforce in driving the country's economic blueprint much needed to create much-needed jobs for thousands of deserving youths. 

Courtesy; KNA