Nyeri County Commissioner (CC), Ronald Mwiwawi, has called on Heads of Departments of Ministries, State Departments, and Government Agencies working in the county to protect the government’s image from being painted in a negative light.
Mwiwawi told the department heads that the Head of State, Dr. William Ruto, and, by extension, the government had come under sharp criticism from the public due to lack of regular progress reports on ongoing government programmes and projects.
The CC noted that the failure by some of the HODs to deliver on their mandate in the implementation cycle had exposed the government to scrutiny by members of the public and had resulted in the negative public outlook.
For many of us, when we sit in our offices, it does not occur to us that the President is being attacked from all quarters on the issue of poor delivery of government services. Most of those stones should be thrown at us because it means we are not doing what we are supposed to be doing.
Speaking during the National Government Development-Nyeri County Implementation Coordination and Management Committee Meeting (NGD-CICMC). The meeting brought together more than 20 heads of departments as well as members of the County Security team.
During the session, the committee members were brought up to speed on the status of the ongoing government projects.
In the 2024/2025 financial year, the government is following up on 324 projects, which are at various levels of implementation. Out of these, 37 have already been allocated funds in the 2024/2025 budget. The committee is also monitoring the progress of some 287 legacy projects, of which a total of 19 have already been budgeted for.
The Administrator also underscored the importance of engaging the public and other stakeholders in the implementation process. He at the same time challenged the HODs to cultivate a culture of communicating their achievements to members of the public.
“We must find a way to communicate what we are doing. We should make the Kenyans understand what is happening on the ground. Today, a Kenyan can define a government project better than the officer in charge of that program or state department, which is very unfortunate,” said Mwiwawi.
“Let us develop a culture of communicating results and building stakeholder goodwill. Whenever we build goodwill, the stakeholder will never fight the government. The more we communicate about results effectively, the more Kenyans will appreciate their country,” he added.
The County Commissioner, who was accompanied by members of the Performance and Delivery Management Secretariat, also cautioned the government officers against criticising government policies.
By Wangari Mwangi and Samuel Maina
