Message To Heads Of Departments And The Entire Staff Of The Ministry On Improving Efficiency And Service Delivery

1.    Implementation of Performance Contract and Service Charter

The Government in general and Ministries in particular have committed to efficient service delivery to citizens.  In doing so, Ministries are implementing the Performance Contract signed by Ministers and Permanent Secretary on one hand, and by the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, and countersigned by the Prime Minister on the other.  Internally, all Heads of Departments have signed Performance Contract with the Permanent Secretary.  The internal Performance Contract and Annual Work-Plan translate the Ministerial Contract into a performance measurement instrument to be realized through the service delivery charter. 

In the past, the Ministry had no scorecard that guided the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual work performance.  Evidence gathered so far reveals that we need to go an extra mile to deliver on the promises we have made to the public.  We need to entrench team work and embrace one another as members of one team.  To facilitate the realization of all these a Scorecard has been developed which will guide in the implementation of activities and regular reporting on the same (see copy attached).  Implementation of daily and weekly activities is the duty of the Heads of Departments and staff under them. My commitment is to have aggregate composite score of less than 2 meaning that we plan to be the best in the current cycle of Performance Contract.  

2.    The 2008/09 MTEF Budget Comes with Good News

The 2008/09 MTEF Budget process was officially launched by the Minister of Finance on 3rd October 2008 at the KICC.  During the launch our Ministry was elected to be the Chair of the Sector Working Group on Trade, Tourism, and Industry.  As the Chair of the Sector Working Group our mandate will be to assist Treasury in enforcing the MTEF Budget for the 2008/09. 

It is good news because it is one of the ways of elevating the profile of the Ministry.  It is also gives us the opportunity to articulate our budgetary requirements for the next financial year in accordance with our Strategic Plan, the Vision 2030, and the Medium Term Plan for the period 2008-2012.  The process of negotiating for resources is outlined in the Treasury Circular No. 2008.  The CFO and the
Head of CPU are expected to spearhead this process with support of all Heads of Departments.  You must all read, appreciate and fully understand the Circular [inside out] in order for us to provide the leadership expected of us.

We will host Ministries in the Trade, Tourism, and Industry Sector during this period and defend the sector position while at the same time ensuring that we complete for resources we need. This is an honor and a challenge to the Ministry, an honor that we must rejoice about and a challenge that we must surmount.  The CFO and CPU need to immediately internalize the Treasury Circular and immediately embark on preparing the calendar of events for the exercise. 

3.    Cascading Management Decision to all Staff

Heads of Department Meeting is like a Management Board meeting in any company.  The decisions of such meetings are crucial in giving direction to the Ministry. Such decisions must be taken seriously at all times. They must be implemented diligently, timely and accurately.  In order to do this, management decisions must be cascaded downwards to Heads of Divisions and general staff through meetings and clear communication.  Therefore, there must be structured meetings between the Heads of Departments and their respective staff to enforce management decisions.

We have not done well on this in the past. Consequently, some bad habits and culture continues. For example, most of the staff have failed to separate their normal duties and duties which are over and above normal work.  They have not been made to understand the contents of many circulars.   It is the duty of Heads of Department to educate their staff on the Circulars.  For this reason, I would like strict enforcement of all Circulars including the one on allowances.  Every Head of Department should ensure proper alignment of work.
 
The Ministry also does not have schedule of duties especially at Department levels.  As a result of this even work that should be considered to be normal have been treated special and therefore are perceived as extra work.  Schedule of duties needs to be developed by all departments allocating duties to all staff for purposes of effective implementation of our programs, sharing of responsibility, and effective monitoring of our work.

4.    Procurement System in the Ministry

I have set up the full governance structure of the procurement system for the Ministry in accordance with the law.  I have appointed the Ministerial Tender Committee (MTC), Ministerial Procurement Committee (MPC), Ministerial Inspection Committee (MIC), and Ministerial Disposal Committee (MDC).  I have also appointed alternate members and served all of them with appointment letters.  Presently, the procurement system is not serving the interest of the
Ministry.  It is not responsive to our service charter.  It is very slow, and not straight forward. There is no proper records kept in the store.  In short is lacking in many respects. The first task of the procurement committees is to enforce discipline and bring order to the procurement system including addressing the above weaknesses.
 

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Message To All Heads Of Departments By The Chairman At The 6th Heads Of Departments Meeting On 12th August 2008

The Ministry is currently implementing the 3rd Cycle of its Performance Contract which covers the period July 2008 to June 2009.  In 2005 the Ministry ranked 31 out 34 (last bottom 10) with composite score of 2.873 and in 2006 the ministry ranked 21 out of 37 (neither top 10 nor last 10) with a composite score of 2.433.

We should endeavor to improve on last score so that we can join the ranks of the top 10 If not top 5.  This means that we must work towards achieving a composite score of less than 2.433.  The preliminary results of 4th Quarter Reports reveal that we shall have a score of 2.9115.  We must work hard to improve on our performance and even do better in the current Financial Year.

It is for these reasons that I have taken the initiative to steer the Ministry to better implementation and delivery of services to the public and ourselves by embracing team work, shared vision, mission and paying special attention to the current performance contract, the departmental annual work-plan and the contract signed between Heads of Departments and the Permanent Secretary, as well as the execution modalities.

Heads of Departments should be reminded that the Performance Contract signed today and the annexed work-plans will constitute the basis of both Bi-annual and Annual Performance Appraisal.  It is also the basis for the appraisal of all staff working under you.  It should therefore be taken seriously as it has major influence on your professional progression or failure of progression.

I urge all Heads of Departments to mobilize their respective staff towards the implementation of the Contract signed today and to effectively participate in the Public Service Week and all other service delivery activities in a manner that places this Ministry on the map of the public.

I equally urge all Departments but more specifically the Human Resources Management and Procurement Departments, need to be more creative and proactive in facilitating other Departments in delivering their respective mandates.  These two departments holds key to staff motivation and efficiency in the very nature of the service they deliver.

Finally, I call upon all Heads of Departments to diligently mobilize staff and provide leadership in implementing the activities outlined in the Annual work Plan for 2008/09.


DAVID S. O. Nalo
PERMANENT SECRETARY

Official Launch of Kenya Public Service Week, 20th August, 2008

The Public Service Week will be held from 20th to 22nd August, 2008 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre grounds and at Provincial and District headquarters countrywide.

Ministries/Departments and State Corporations will be showcasing their services to the public through exhibitions at the KICC grounds for the three days.

The purpose of this memo is to inform you and urge you to fully participate in this important event when we shall be showcasing our services to the public and all our stakeholders.


DAVID S. O. NALO, CBS
PERMANENT SECRETARY