Innovative and honest public officers key in service delivery

Over the years, the police force (now the Kenya Police Service) has acquired the dubious distinction of being the most corrupt institution, going by many surveys and Transparency International’s annual reports.

Predictably, any institution that suffers negative ratings on any measure — be it corruption, service delivery or productivity — often has its public image battered following wholesale condemnation.

In all fairness, this should not be the case. In every public institution, there are bright spots, officers who perform their duties diligently and with professional distinction.

A case in point is Corporal David Kipng’eno Chumo, a traffic police officer based at Bomet Police Station, who, among others, was recently honoured during the third Huduma Ombudsman Award ceremony.

The award is an initiative of the Commission on Administrative Justice that seeks to recognise and reward outstanding public officers and institutions.

ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

He won the individual category for upholding integrity, selflessness and going beyond the call of duty to promote the rule of law.

Described by both colleagues and the public as “the incorruptible, humane officer”, Cpl Chumo is the epitome of what police service — and indeed, public service — is all about.

Coincidentally, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority was the best in the institution category for professionalism, making the police accountable to the public, thereby securing citizens’ rights, and enhancing trust in the police.

The award scheme is in line with policy interventions such as Kenya Vision 2030, which lay emphasis on policy-driven and service-focused government institutions as prerequisites to attaining national aspirations.

The World Bank, in its March 2016, Kenya Country Economic Memorandum report, observed the need to focus on improving public service to leverage on economic growth for shared prosperity.

GOOD GOVERNANCE

Although Kenya was grouped at the lower end, together with Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Pakistan, the report notes positives in overall performance.

For example, the Huduma Kenya programme was the overall winner in Category One for improving delivery of public services in the 2015 United Nations Public Service Awards.

The same award had in 2007 gone to the Performance Contracts Steering Committee Secretariat, and the Kenya Open Data Initiative was one of three international finalists at the Open Data Institute’s 2015 awards for its publisher award, celebrating high publishing standards and the use of challenging data.

The commission prides itself for being a key player in the continuing effort to transform public service not only through the award scheme, but also by facilitating the setting up of, and building complaints handling capacity in the sectors of public service, public offices and state organs.

The commission has trained 12,000 public officers on good governance, complaints handling and ADR methods; and provided technical support to over 250 in areas including development of complaints policies, service charters and institutional complaints handling procedures.

REWARDING HEROES
As a result of these interventions, public institutions are increasingly becoming more responsive.

Last year, government ministries and departments, and parastatals reported handling 106,733 complaints, of which 96,731 had been resolved.

Citizens are increasingly demanding services as enshrined in service charters of institutions, an indication of enhancing accountability.

This will go a long way in ensuring actualisation of the principles and values of public service as enshrined in Article 232 of the Constitution.

The Huduma Ombudsman Award is a modest gesture to reward officers who, despite challenges that impede service delivery, continue to go beyond the call of duty.

Mr Ngaluma is the commission secretary/CEO of the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman). [email protected]