North Eastern Regional Commissioner John Otieno has called on heads of departments in the three counties of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera to embrace teamwork for faster implementation of government policies, projects and programmes under their jurisdiction.
Otieno said that no government entity can work in isolation and succeed; thus, there is a need for all government departments to come together and implement public policies, projects and programmes as a team
“We are working for the same government whose ultimate goal is to deliver her promises to the citizens. We need to promote synergy between various departments through the ‘a whole-of-government approach’ when implementing policies, projects and programmes,” Otieno declared.
“We want a situation where different departments implementing these policies, programmes or projects can get support from another department of government whenever there are hiccups. This will ensure that we can achieve greater results,” he added.
Otieno was addressing the press after closing a two-day workshop today at a hotel in Garissa town that brought together deputy county commissioners, assistant county commissioners and technical officers from different state implementing agencies.
The workshop that was organised by the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) was meant to sensitise the officers on bottom-up transformation agenda, popularly known as BETA.
“The objective of this workshop is to enlighten these officers on the objectives of the BETA economic model and also the five pillars of the bottom-up transformation agenda. This is an agenda that aims at moving this country forward to the status of an industrialised country,” Otieno said.
“These officers are critical when it comes to implementation, monitoring as well as dissemination of the government policies, programs and projects. We want them to clearly understand the government agenda for purposes of disseminating the same to members of the public,” he noted.
The regional commissioner said the government is implementing a number of projects and programmes geared towards bettering the living standards of its citizens but the paradox is that members of the public, and to some extent some of the officers, do not understand or do not know these projects.
He said that if the officers understand the projects and the government agenda, then they would make members of the public appreciate the efforts being put forward by the government to develop this country and put money in their pockets.
On affordable housing, the regional commissioner said high-rise buildings are dotting almost every corner of the country because of the ambitious affordable housing programme.
Otieno said that the housing scheme has brought ‘dignity to our people especially those living in the slums’.
“The affordable housing is not only creating jobs for our unemployed youths but also improving the economic status of this region by way of giving businesspersons an opportunity to trade,” he said.
In the health sector, the regional commissioner said that the number of harambees to support the sick has come down because of the comprehensive health scheme.
“It’s therefore important for the officers to be able to explain to our people not only to register with SHA but also to contribute towards it. If those who have registered contribute, the scheme will grow and be able to take care of each one of us when we go to the hospital,” Otieno said.
Otieno acknowledged that some of these programmes have had teething problems but was quick to urge Kenyans to learn ‘not to always lament when a small thing goes wrong’.
“We should not always be a lamenting nation. We should be a nation that finds solutions to teething problems so that the next day, if there was a teething problem, it is overcome,” he said.
By Jacob Songok
