Kinyua says delivery of government services to continue during Cabinet recess

Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua has assured that delivery of government services will continue uninterrupted as the Cabinet proceeds on a two-week working recess today.

Kinyua said the recess was in the 2020 Calendar of Cabinet and its Standing Committees, covering the Financial Year 2020/21.

“The Cabinet Calendar is in tandem with the practice within the Commonwealth and heralds a new tradition in the management of Cabinet business. The Cabinet now joins Parliament and the Judiciary in implementing periodic working recesses. The inaugural Cabinet working recess will commence on August 17 to August 28,” he said.

Those affected are Cabinet Secretaries, Chief Administrative Secretaries and Principal Secretaries.

“The Head of State and Government remains steadfast in his confidence with the membership and capacity of his Cabinet and the senior ranks of the Executive as well as their individual and collective ability to support in the delivery of his agenda for the nation, as he continues to steer Kenya further along the path of the most consequential years of transformation in our history,” Kinyua said.

The Head of Public Service sought to allay speculation that President Uhuru Kenyatta could be planning to reorganise the government after the recess.

In a memo dated August 12, Kinyua said the National Development Implementation and Communication Cabinet Committee (NDICCC) shall convene for a meeting on September 1 and the Cabinet under the chairmanship of the president shall sit on September 3 in Nairobi.

He said the Cabinet Calendar is issued in recognition of the unique role of Cabinet as the nation’s apex policy organ and the role of Cabinet Committees and Technical Committees as the framework that institutionalises the delivery cycle of State projects and programmes.

Kinyua explained that the Cabinet working recess was in order considering the busy schedule and the heavy demands of State Office placed on members and their colleagues across senior ranks of the Executive.

He noted that Executive Order No 1 of 2019 established NDICCC as a standing committee of Cabinet, supported by the National Development Implementation Technical Committee (NDITC) comprising Principal Secretaries.

NDICCC and NDITC convene weekly on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively and last year, each of the committees met 42 times. This year the committees have so far met 26 and 27 times, respectively.

“In that regard, and as the administration continues to implement the ambitious transformative agenda for the nation dubbed as the “Big-Four,” the Cabinet working recess seeks to give members of Cabinet a scheduled break from weekly Cabinet committee meetings as well as time to conduct working tours, site visits and field engagements with the public on State projects,” he said.