Public Service Cabinet Secretary, Moses Kuria, has called on State Corporations to champion the absorption of Public Service Commission’s Interns, urging them to prioritize ethical service delivery.
Kuria regretted the sluggish uptake of 58, 000 Public Service Commission Interns interviewed last year, noting that the State Corporations were better placed to offer placement for the young graduates, while instilling in them ethics and integrity, for posterity of public service.
The CS, who addressed Board members, Chief Executive Officers (CEO) and Governance Officers to State Corporations at a Naivasha hotel, urged them to also align their strategic plans to the Bottom-Up Economic Transformational Agenda (BETA), as a way of ensuring that the government delivers as one.
“Half of this nation’s budget is taken up by State Corporations and it is here that we want to realize meaningful impact that will transform our country.
“Ethics and values have to be followed to the letter, starting with us corporation heads and Board members, in order to positively impact those serving in our organizations,” noted Kuria, emphasizing that performance was the heart of government operations.
The CS noted that public service delivery as per the BETA plan was key to the Whole-of-Government-Approach that the Kenya Kwanza government was based on, urging the corporations to synergize for meaningful change.
The heads of Corporations are attending a three-day Board Induction workshop geared towards equipping them with principles of corporate governance, including policies governing board operations, ethical leadership as well as legal and institutional framework for the Corporations.
The induction is being conducted as a partnership between the Institute of Certified Secretaries (ICS), which champions good governance in the public and private sector and the State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC).
ICS Chairman FCS Joshua Wambua said that a series of trainings for board secretariat, senior members and boards were in the offing, noting that performance contracting as well as board evaluation for efficiency and delivery of service was the concern of the institute that was also a professional body that supports the services of Corporate Secretaries of the State Corporations.
“The Institute (ICS) has initiated and supported the government agenda in developing a code of governance for state corporations, Mwongozo, and other sectors. We recognize that if we get governance right, issues of performance contracting and management will definitely fall in place,” noted ICS Chief Executive Officer FCS Jeremiah Karanja.
The SCAC Chairperson Philip Mong’ony, reiterated the Committees support to ensure that State Corporations delivered on their mandates, noting the need to prudently put to use public resources.
“This training is geared towards consolidating the thinking of public service towards the BETA plan. The sensitization on Mwongozo will reinforce corporate governance, integrity of the boards as well as harnessing the various expertise, experience and knowledge, for public service delivery,” added Mong’ony.
By Anne Sabuni and Erastus Gichohi
