National Government Public Officers in Rift Valley Region have been asked to effectively utilise National Government Administrative Officers’ (NGAO) existing structures to explain and interpret government policies, programmes, and projects at the grassroots level.
Regional Director of Government Delivery Services (DDS), Sitati Olando, regretted that the amount of information reaching the public in rural areas on government programmes and policies is minimal because relevant officers fail to involve National Government officials such as the County Commissioners, Chiefs and their Assistants, whose structures extend to the villages.
Mr Olando reiterated the need to upscale the level of information passed to Wananachi on what the government is doing to counter the misinformation that Kenya Kwanza Administration is doing very little to address the current socio-economic challenges facing the country.
He also urged the officers, as critical agents of the National Government, to make use of public barazas convened by Deputy County Commissioners and Chiefs in their respective areas of jurisdiction to educate the public on availability of devolved services such as Inua Jamii, Hustler, Women and Youth funds.
“Let us embrace the spirit of teamwork and work together for the better good of Mwananchi.” Avoid working in ‘silos, but be inclusive. If there is a challenge, please negotiate with your sister department to avoid a situation where a State Agency takes another to court for issues that could be resolved amicably if both sit down and iron them out,” he emphasised.
The Regional Director made the call on Thursday, when he inaugurated the National Government-Baringo Implementation Coordination and Management Committee (NGD_CICMC) at the Baringo Central NG-CDF Conference Hall.
In the meeting chaired by the County Commissioner, Stephen Kutwa and attended by Government Delivery Services Director-In-Charge of North Rift, Martin Rotich, Olando directed the County Directors, drawn from Ministries, Parastatals and State Agencies, to ensure that all projects they implement are aligned with the Bottom-Up Economic Transformational Agenda (BETA) plan.
He warned that going forward, the government will not tolerate officers who absent themselves from critical meetings, as doing so will be tantamount to slowing down implementation of government policies and programmes.
Mr Olando also reminded the officers, as coordinators and supervisors of projects at the county level, to acquaint themselves adequately with the current government manifestos and promises under which it was ushered into power.
In his opening remarks, the County Commissioner urged the directors to embrace teamwork and commitment to deliver quality services to area residents.
Mr Kutwa also called upon the Heads of departments to take the monthly meetings seriously since they were key to ensuring seamless coordination of planned projects amongst the departments.
By Joshua Kibet
