The Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs has achieved significant milestones to spur development as part of long-term quest to empower communities in fulfillment of Government’s Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)
Speaking during a comprehensive engagement on Wednesday to review the Ministry’s performance, Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs CS Salim Mvurya said that scores of transformational projects for community empowerment in mining, blue economy, and shipping sectors have been rolled out with significant success and impact at the community level.
The performance appraisal engagement was co-led by the Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management CS Moses Kuria, whose Ministry has embarked on a series of strategic meetings with other Ministries to evaluate progress status of flagship projects, identify project implementation gaps, propose sustainable interventions and devise alternative implementation matrix for complex projects to promote inter-ministerial coordination and support towards realization of BETA.
Mvurya said that from empowering hundreds of thousands of artisanal miners across Kenya to empowering fishermen and promotion of aquaculture, the Ministry would also aggressively drive the transformation agenda and ensure communities benefited from natural resources found in the country.
“The departments have rolled out projects whose economic impact has started taking hold. We intend to escalate our efforts and meet our commitments because we are aware of the critical role we play in empowering ordinary Kenyans,” said the CS.
The meeting was also attended by Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau, Principal Secretaries Elijah Mwangi (Mining) Besty Njagi (Blue Economy), Teresia Mbaika (Devolution) and James Muhati (Planning).
Other government officials present included government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura and senior representatives from key departments.
In his address, CS Kuria said the evaluation exercise was a critical tool in diagnosing the government’s performance measured against the set goals.
He added that reviewing and customizing of the metrics identified to measure the effectiveness of service delivery by various ministries would be actualized through such exercises.
This, Kuria said, would catalyze the realization of the government’s development agenda, adding that inter-ministerial interventions through frequent consultations would help identify gaps in service delivery systems including delay in approval of legal processes and offer appropriate remedies to allow Ministries, Departments and Agencies to operate optimally.
“The government will continue undertaking periodic evaluation of the progress and status of fulfillment of the commitment we made to the Kenyans. Only then can we be able to identify challenges and address them conclusively,” he said.
The CS commended the steps taken by the state departments to fulfill their mandates while aligning their goals to the government’s development agenda.
Kuria said that the mining department was especially vital in revitalizing Kenya’s economy owing to the massive potential in exploration and exploitation of the mineral resources for millions of artisanal miners in Kenya.
The mining department was further hailed for proactively engaging with strategic partners to engage in multi-billion shilling projects that are anticipated to see massive development blitz sweep through several counties.
On his part, the Mining PS disclosed that the department had embarked on formation of artisanal miner cooperative societies to formalize the sector and pave the way for channeling of support in terms of funding, training and linkages to markets.
Already, 200 marketing cooperatives have been formed with the department eyeing to register an extra 200 within this year.
Mwangi also added that several key strategic investors had already been identified to invest in multi-billion projects including the establishment of a gold refinery in Kakamega, a granite plant in Vihiga and fluorspar mining plant in Elgeyo Marakwet.
The PS further said the department was awaiting the approval of key amendments in the Mining Act that would enable operational conformity to the changing nature of the mining sector.
“With the policies, regulations and laws in place, more growth is expected to be witnessed in this sector,” he explained.
By Wagema Mwangi
