President William Ruto asks his cabinet to travel, explore Kenya

President William Ruto . [Kelly Ayodi, Standard]

President William Ruto has asked Cabinet Secretaries (CS) and Principal Secretaries (PS) in his government to tour and explore the country.

He was addressing the Cabinet that has retreated to the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, Nanyuki, to develop work programs and strategies.

Ruto said that they are not representatives of their villages or counties, but are the face of Kenya and should therefore travel to all parts of the country.

"It is my expectation that we will see PSs in Turkana, CSs in Vanga and all manner of places," he said.

"You must appreciate what Kenya looks like, you are the PS or CS for every corner of Kenya and your service must reflect the national responsibility assigned to you," he added.

Ruto was addressing CSs and PSs during a four-day cabinet retreat that is taking place in Nanyuki.

He said that the Kenya Kwanza government will capitalize on technology to make service delivery efficient, adding that the process to digitize all government services had kicked off. "Sending a letter takes longer than sending an email," he said.

"We will use technology to seal loopholes used in pilferage," he said while assuring Kenyans that his administration will be prudent in the use of their taxes.

According to President Ruto the next cabinet meeting will be paperless. "We are going to run our cabinet on the basis of the digital space," he said.

He said that he had also directed every ministry to come up with timelines on how they are going to achieve some of the priorities of his government set during the campaign period.

"It is time Kenyans got value for the resources they put at our disposal to run their affairs," he said.

Ruto said that he had given directions to Treasury to make sure that the next budget reflects the priorities the government has and carries the completion of all other programs that are in the best interest of Kenyans.

Ruto said that his administration was looking for ways to generate more revenue to fund its activities.

"It is our expectations as well that leveraging on technology and ensuring that we build the necessary ecosystem for us to collect every penny that is due to the government of Kenya," he said.

He said that the government was looking to package its services to attract the private sector to invest with the government.

President Ruto said that the government was also working on a program to sell water to farmers and other users.

"We should be able to package our water harvesting activities and programs into investment opportunities and get the private sector to come on board," he said.

He said that the government was looking to use technology to support farmers with the existing subsidies to make them efficient and free of brokers and middlemen whom he said have been giving the government a hard time.

He asked the members of the cabinet to ensure that they protect the interest and the resources of the millions of Kenyans who pay taxes.

"Before you sign off any contract, as you work with anybody that comes to work with government your position must be informed by the interest of the people of Kenya," he said.