Defence, Treasury and Lands ministries most inefficient ministries in Kenya, survey shows

NAIROBI: The ministries of Defence, Treasury and Lands are the most difficult for Kenyans to get information from while those of Transport, Agriculture and Sports are the easiest.

 

This is according to a new survey by Infotrack research firm, carried out gauge the efficiency of government ministries in responding to requests of information from Kenyans. The survey was commissioned by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya). The information sought by Kenyans was about tenders, vacancies, internships, publications and how to register as suppliers to the Government, among others.

In terms of denial of information to Kenyans, the Interior ministry scored the worst, followed by the those of Sports and Education while the Ministry of Health scored the best followed by Energy and Foreign Affairs.

According to the survey, the officials of the ministries of Defence, Mining and Devolution were least aware of the right of Kenyans to access information from the Government while those of the ministries of Sports, Agriculture and Energy were the most aware.

The ministries of Foreign Affairs, Mining and Agriculture were ranked as the most proactive in disclosing information to the public while the ministries of Labour, Sports and Defence were the least proactive.

With regard to the competence and experience of staff in handling information requests, the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Sports and Agriculture scored the best while the ministries of Defence, National Treasury and Transport scored the worst.

ICJ-Kenya Executive Director George Kegoro said they are currently implementing an initiative to promote transparency and accountability in the Government and boost access to information by Kenyans.

"The general objective of the survey was to examine the status of implementation of access to information across the 18 ministries and thereafter rank them," he said.

Infotrack Chief Executive Officer Angela Ambitho said Government officials need to be trained to be more responsive to the needs of Kenyans in terms of information.

In terms of responsiveness to information requests by Kenyans, the ministries of Agriculture, Labour and Transport scored the highest while Lands, Information and Education scored the lowest.

Kenyans were most satisfied with the information provided by the ministries of Transport, Industrialisation as well Energy. However, they were least satisfied with the information provided by ministries of Treasury, Environment and Mining.

The Ministry of Transport was also described as the most efficient in facilitating access to information, with most respondents saying they got information they were looking for after one visit. But Treasury, Information and Lands ministries were the least efficient in this regard.

In terms of accessibility, the Devolution ministry scored the highest followed by Treasury and Education. Defence scored the lowest.