President orders for performance review of all ministry officials

President William Ruto.[Standard]

In a circular to Cabinet Secretaries, Head of Public Service Felix Koskei said the appraisal of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) would begin on Monday.

A self-evaluation would be verified independently by the Public Service Performance and Delivery Management Unit.

"The evaluation and subsequent grading of performance also provides the basis for instituting performance rewards and/or sanctions," said Koskei.

This will be the first evaluation of Dr Ruto's presidency and will assess the performance of the 2023/2024 year based on the targets set.

"A total of 450 MDAs including State House, Office of the Deputy President, 22 ministries, Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice, Office of Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service, 265 state corporations and 159 tertiary institutions were placed on performance contracts during the FY 2023/2024," he added.

Deputy Chief of Staff, Performance and Delivery, Eliud Owalo, will lead the two-month exercise that will assess the efficiency of ministries, State corporations and tertiary institutions.

His office will physically verify the quarterly and annual achievements, with those that fail to submit their self-evaluation ranked as poor performers.

"MDAs should ensure that the performance evaluation data is comprehensive, verifiable and accurate and that evaluation for each performance indicator reflects the actual achievement. In addition, any exogenous factor(s) that may have affected the achievement of the set performance targets should be objectively established, analysed and documented," stated Koskei.

The move comes days after Cabinet and Principal secretaries signed performance contracts for the current financial year, with President Ruto warning stern sanctions against poor performance.

"They will carry recognition, rewards or sanctions, which will be applied without fail. Excellence, integrity, efficiency and consistency will be rewarded, while failure, negligence, waste and misconduct will prompt corrective action," Ruto said during the event at State House.

The government has recently faced backlash over poor performance, with Ruto keen to tame growing public dissent.

During his address to CSs and PSs, he emphasized the need to deliver. "I promise you we will confound the naysayers we will succeed. This great nation that God has given us will succeed. The enemies of Kenya will be put to shame," he said.