Lenku, Balala and Kaimenyi’s dockets cited in report for poor performance

Key government ministries have failed to meet performance targets set by the Jubilee government last year, an internal scorecard seen by the Sunday Nation reveals.

Interior minister Joseph ole Lenku, Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala and his Education counterpart Jacob Kaimenyi were among the worst performers out of the 18 ministries and the State Law Office based on performance indicators for the self-assessment dated March, this year.

Mr Lenku and top security officials have been criticised for failing to check terror attacks, cattle rustling and general insecurity, something reflected in the government’s own internal report that covers the period from June to December 2013.

“It is evident that the ministry did not achieve 50 per cent level in the key operational indicator, (the) improvement in provision of security to persons and property,” the report states.

Recent deadly attacks that occurred after the report was prepared — including the killing of at least 60 people in Mpeketoni and 20 others in the Wajir-Mandera border — indicate that the ministry is still struggling to achieve its targets.  The Interior ministry docket deals with law enforcement, immigration and county administration.  

According to the report prepared by the Division of Performance Contracting in the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, Mr Balala’s ministry was also found to have been below targets on allocation of tenders to youth and women, disability mainstreaming and fighting corruption. 

“The ministry (also) did not achieve a 50 per cent level in two operational indicators – increase contribution of mining to the economy GDP from one per cent to 1.1 per cent and maximise returns from sale of minerals and metals,” the assessment of Mr Balala’s ministry reads.

YET TO DELIVER

Similarly, Prof Kaimenyi, despite controlling one of the largest budget allocations in the country in the region of Sh270 billion has yet to deliver on the Jubilee flagship project of providing laptops to primary school pupils.

Onother weak point was failing to facilitate public access to information and efficient services.

The report also reveals that a thriving culture of corruption in the government has partly contributed to the stagnation of development in all the 18 ministries and State Law Office. The Presidency and the Defence ministry were, however, not evaluated.

Furthermore, compliance with set budgetary levels remained a key concern, with some ministries overspending on certain projects even as the pledge to reserve 30 per cent of government tenders to youths and women took off at a sluggish pace.

The report also looked at access to information, access to efficient and quality public services, service delivery improvements and resolution of public complaints. Other performance indicators used in the assessment were provision of internship programmes for youth, transfer of skills, disability mainstreaming, implementation of the Constitution and corruption eradication.

Transport secretary Michael Kamau’s failure to reduce road carnage and Energy secretary Davis Chirchir to cut the cost of fuel and electricity have also been felt most severely by Kenyans.

Mr Kamau has been criticised for failing to reduce road fatalities between June and December 2013. Last year’s alarming figures of fatalities led the government to introduce night travel restrictions in addition to the breathalyser (Alcoblow) to check drink driving among other tough traffic rules to reduce road accidents.

The Transport ministry’s failures were noted in limiting access to efficient and quality public services, resolution of public complaints, disability mainstreaming and implementation of the Constitution.

ENERGY MINISTRY

However, Mr Kamau has this year succeeded in pushing for the construction of the standard gauge railway funded by the Chinese government.

The Energy ministry’s failure to manage fuel costs has led to high cost of doing business while expansion of electricity transmission remains low, hurting businesses and individual consumers.

Meanwhile, the ministry of Environment headed by Prof Judi Wakhungu failed to rein in corruption while Devolution and Labour each did not deliver on two performance and operational indicators: corruption eradication, compliance with set budgetary levels for youths and women and provision of internship programmes for the youth.

On its part, Attorney General Githu Muigai’s State Law Office was found to have failed to resolve public complaints while its allocation of tenders to youths and women also fell below 30 per cent.

Mrs Charity Ngilu’s Lands docket did not achieve its targets on allocation of 30 per cent of tenders to youths and women, posting a mere three per cent.

The ministry has been embroiled in a tussle with the National Land Commission (NLC) over control also failed in eradicating corruption, which undermined issuance of title deeds.

“Operational conflicts between the ministry and the National Land Commission impacted negatively on service delivery e.g. signing of leases on public land,” the assessment says of Mrs Ngilu’s ministry.

The report has, however, not been released to the public three months after it was prepared and was only mentioned in a court case on Monday when activists Okiya Omtatah Okoiti and Wycliffe Gisebe moved to court accusing Devolution CS Anne Waiguru, Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, Public Service Commission chair Margaret Kobia and Devolution PS Peter Mangiti, of, among other accusations, blocking the release of the report.

The activists particularly allege that Ms Waiguru has been “demanding that it (the report) first be revised to favour the Devolution and Planning ministry.”

Experts say the report indicates more needs to be done.

“On the face of it the document portrays a very low level of performance for all ministries for the period,” said Mr Karugor Gatamah, the CEO of Africa Corporate Governance Advisory Services.

The human resource expert added that the transition process after the 2013 elections could have contributed to the unimpressive performance given the apparent delay in putting in place Cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries given the long-drawn election battle and the parliamentary vetting before appointment.

However, Mr Gatamah said he was concerned that the performance evaluation framework tended to focus on output and processes with very little focus on outcomes or impact.

“Indeed discussions with some participants in the public service suggest that the performance contracting process and assessments are now seen as a routine ritual,” he said.

However, there were also positives such as the Interior ministry establishing structures to ensure national cohesion and values.

To tackle the challenges noted in the report, Mr Gatamah said mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure that funds are released on time to facilitate work in addition to removing delays in the procurement process in the public sector.