Civil servants and public officers are set to be trained on ethics in a bid to stem the run-away corruption in the country.
This will help in re-institutionalizing the values and principles of public service as supported in the constitution.
In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Kenya School of Government and Outward Bound Trust Kenya on Tuesday afternoon, the officers will be trained jointly through experiential learning by the two institutions.
During the signing of the agreement, Director General of the Kenya School of Government (KSG), Prof. Ludeki Chweya confirmed their commitment towards this mission, saying the MOU would guide their roles in the training process.
KSG is a certified institution that provides capacity development programs for the Public Service through training, research, consultancy and policy advisory services.
Specifically, the school affords opportunity for development of leadership, managerial and other skills and competencies required in policy making and service delivery.
“Inculcation of public service doctrine, ethics and values, and familiarity with emerging knowledge in all spheres of society that impact on the public service is what we do,” Prof. Chweya noted.
The essence of the partnership, he added, is to underscore the fact that it is not enough for public servants to receive the skills and expertise required to perform their function but beyond that, there is need to develop the character and values of the public servant and to cultivate the impartiality to abide by the established rules and standards of operations.
Prof. Chweya further said whereas KSG mostly emphasized on knowledge and skills development, and the development of expertise, Outward Bound Trust emphasizes character and values development.
“It is possible for a public servant who has received all the knowledge that is necessary for the performance of their duties to fall short of effective and satisfactory service delivery. The missing link will be the development of commitment to duty, commitment to professional standards and readiness to serve the country on the basis of patriotism and selflessness and commitment to established national values and ethics and rules on integrity,” Prof Chweya said.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Outward Bound School, Michael Yugi said skill and knowledge is not enough and there must be the right attitude, right focus, and willingness to incorporate others in causative thinking.
“We are therefore reinforcing what is being done by the Kenya School of Government. The approach is experiential and we believe and trust that our rich history and that of the KSG put together will transform our civil service,” Yugi said
He added that the program would be embedded into the courses offered at the KSG and would be offered over a four day period at the Oloitoktok based Outward Bound institution.
By Wangari Ndirangu
