Nyanza Regional Commissioner (RC) Flora Mworoa has underscored the importance of One- Government- Approach in delivering services to Kenyans.
Mworoa said for there to be effective service delivery, there must be strong and deliberate synergy between the Executive Office of the President, the National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs), Ministries, Departments, and Agencies and all the implementing agencies.
“No one institution can deliver the President’s agenda on its own. We must move together, with a shared understanding of priorities and a common approach to reporting and problem-solving. We must also develop an effective and efficient communication mechanism, which ensures the government’s agenda is well cascaded, articulated and understood by common citizens,” she added.
Mworoa was speaking in Kisumu, during a week-long sensitization workshop for representatives of the Executive Office of the President, Government Delivery Unit Programme Coordinators, Regional and County Security and Intelligence committee members, Regional and County heads of national government departments on monitoring, evaluation, and tracking of national government programmes and presidential directives.
The week-long sensitization exercise, aimed at strengthening monitoring, evaluation, and tracking of national government projects, programmes, policies and presidential directives, with specific focus on operationalization of the Kenya Kwanza’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
The RC added that this exercise was meant to sharpen the communication tools of the team, align language and strengthen coordination, so that the team in Nyanza region could operate as One Government, One Plan and One Delivery System.
“As the multi-agency team, we are the coordination backbone and feedback mechanism for government at the Regional, County and Sub-county levels. Our effectiveness will be judged not by meetings held, but by projects completed, livelihoods improved and transformed and bottlenecks resolved in real time,” she stated.
The RC added that to fulfil this mandate, the team has a straightforward role to provide credible, real-time information from the field, to flag challenges early and to escalate issues in a structured, evidence-based manner and above all, ensure that presidential directives are understood and implemented uniformly across all levels.
Mworoa noted that the multi-agency framework is the president’s delivery and feedback mechanism on the ground, a link between policy decisions made at the centre and what actually happens in the regions and counties.
“This sensitization therefore seeks to align the Whole-of-Government-Approach more closely with the Executive Office of the President, ensuring that presidential directives are clearly understood, properly tracked, accurately reported and acted upon without delay.
The RC observed that in Nyanza region, BETA implementation is already visible and expanding with programmes such as fertilizer support, rice production in Ahero and West Kano, tea in Kisii and Nyamira, sugar value chains and fisheries-linked agro-enterprise, but all these require constant field verification and progress tracking.
Mworoa added that in Blue Economy: Lake Victoria fisheries, Kabonyo aquaculture project, cold-chain facilities and nine fish landing sites, along the shores of Lake Victoria, all demanded coordinated monitoring across agencies to ensure sustainability, incomes, and compliance.
On Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), she said that Hustler Fund uptake, the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) and value-addition enterprises within the region, must be tracked beyond disbursement to actual business growth, job creation and wealth generation.
“On universal health, Mworoa said the significant elevation of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) to Level Six is very critical, as it enhances service delivery and also increases the hospital’s capacity to provide specialized care within the region and beyond.
The RC further observed that Affordable Housing, modern markets and Students Village Hostels program have so far been successful within the region, with many of the projects either ongoing, completed, while many more were under procurement.
She further reported that in Nyanza region, construction of six Digital Hubs is currently being undertaken in all its counties and once complete, this will increase digital literacy, online job creation, digitization of government services and increase internet connectivity.
“Thus, these programmes success, or failure are based on how well we coordinate, collaborate and communicate issues from the ground,” she told participants of the seminar.
Mworoa reiterated that monitoring and evaluation was not an administrative formality, but a leadership obligation.
“The success of BETA in Nyanza and the credibility of government at the grassroots, largely depend on how well we track delivery and how quickly, we act on what we see,” she said.
By Mabel Keya – Shikuku
