The Principal Secretary (PS) for ICT, Eng John Tanui, has reaffirmed the commitment of the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Digital Economy to work and deliver on the Bottom-up Transformation Agenda, the realization of the Vision 2030 and other commitments under its Digital Master Plan.
The PS expressed strong optimism that the teams under the various Directorates in the Ministry’s State Departments of ICT & the Digital Economy and Broadcasting & Telecommunication have put quite some effort over the last one year to enhance public communication, connectivity, digitisation and other commitments and targets set out in the Performance Contracts (PC) in the beginning of the last financial year.
While addressing a team of evaluators from the Public Service Performance Management Unit (PSPMU) at the Ministry’s headquarters in Nairobi during the PC 2025/2026 Evaluation for the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Digital Economy, Eng. Tanui assured the team of the Ministry’s total cooperation to ensure that evidence of facts is provided during the evaluation process, maintaining that the achievement of these targets and commitments is critical.
Further, he noted that performance evaluation data is key, insisting that decisions made based on data will be helpful to the country in making positive strides in public service delivery.
“So, as we go through this process, I encourage the teams from our side to ensure that all the evidence of the commitments we did are presented so that we are able to justify every statement and performance indicator we have put with the evidence,” urged the PS, as he thanked the various agencies that put in the work to ensure the Ministry’s performance is evidence based.
On the other hand, the PS highlighted that Kenya is globally noticeable when it comes to financial indicators, the growth of the digital economy, the growth of digital services, the amount of connectivity in the country and the number of people available using digital platforms.
In this period, Eng. Tanui observed the continued attraction of investment in the country by various technology stakeholders and businesses.
“We’ve seen the establishment of Apple Training Centre at Strathmore while the Microsoft Africa Development centre also continues to grow,” stated the PS.
Additionally, he mentioned that the country has witnessed private sector Business Processing Outsourcing (BPOs) establish presence in the country singling out Teleperformance, the world’s number one BPO which has established its presence in the country within the last year.
Similarly, Eng Tanui positively pointed out that some BPOs rising from 20 employees and currently reaching 500 with others having targets of close to 2000 in this coming financial year.
“Therefore, we are very proud of the foundation work we’ve done that will make the industry grow better,” he asserted.
He at the same time stressed that the achievement of the set targets in business is very critical for the Ministry’s work in the next financial year as the two state departments aim to make sure the digital economy continues to thrive and to unlock more opportunities for young people in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, software development, and manufacturing.
In this regard, the PS was compelled to remind everyone of the manufacturing of devices in the country where he disclosed that Kenya has crossed over 4 million locally produced devices by the private sector.
Likewise, he expressed pride in the rise of a new industry in the country called the electronics industry, reiterating the critical nature of the team’s efforts.
Eng. Tanui therefore invited the Public Service Performance Management Unit to also look at areas of further improvement so that the Ministry can factor in areas of advancement so that the country can achieve maximum participation of the digital sector in the economy.
According to the PS, many countries are growing their digital economy component to their GDP 40 percent and above hence, there is great belief that Kenya is on track and that this sector will make a significant contribution in the future.
“From now in terms of additional jobs it can create and in terms of opportunities and enterprises that can come, we will clearly see more exports early next month as we host the software and AI summit in the country,” he said.
In his remarks, the evaluation team leader from the Public Service Performance Management Unit, Vincent Sutei, reminded the directors of the key requirements for the evaluation process including the use of method/site performance also referred to as the Government Performance Conducting Information System.
Further, Sutei reiterated the importance of the Ministry having gone through the Performance Contract as a team, performed self-evaluation and generated a document in a cell information report in order to establish the composite score which for the Ministry was 3.2396.
He also drew the attention of the directors to the guidelines offered for reference in some scenarios during the interpretation of some indicators such as the evolution of finances, especially financial stewardship indicators.
“That’s the absorption related funds, donor funds, appropriation aid and the pending bills,” he illustrated, emphasizing that the key documents which should be presented for authentic evidence are only from audited accounts.
He disclosed that his team will refer and rely on a document called annual reports and financial statements submitted to the Office of the Auditor General by the Ministry signed by the two accounting officers (Principal Secretaries) heading the state departments of ICT and the Digital Economy and Broadcasting & Telecommunications.
by Michael Omondi
