• Ongwae said he will not entertain officials who sleep on their jobs.
• He will name and shame ministers and chief officers in his administration who do nto perform their duties appropriately.
Kisii Governor James Ongwae has promised to cut budgets for underperforming departments in efforts to spur service delivery.
The slashed monies will be directed to those departments that meet their performance targets, he said.
Ongwae also warned executives in his administration who fail in their mandate that they will be named and shamed.
The governor spoke yesterday during the signing of new contracts by his county executives.
He said there was a need to transform how his executives operate. Those who fail to perform their duties have no space in the government, he said.
“We may spare them the agony of being paraded here today but in the next exercise I will be forced to parade them here for all and sundry to see who among my staff is lazy,” Ongwae said.
Ongwae said the residents need services delivered to them.
“Performance contracting boils down to service delivery which all of us must be ready to improve because that is what has put us here. Going forward it will not be business as usual. Each staff should be seen to be doing their work as expected,” Ongwae said.
The county chief said he has launched a Rapid Service Delivery programme that will be headed by Deputy Governor Joash Maangi.
The unit, the governor said, will oversee the implementation of various projects and ensure they are completed within the required timeframe.
Ongwae said it was ironical that the departments that consume the largest budget share were the ones that failed to meet targets during the assessment.
An annual external assessment report placed the Executive in charge of Agriculture Ezman Onsarigo the best overall.
Onsarigo was followed by Finance and Administration and, Stakeholder Management executives.
The department of Physical planning closed the ranking at position 10.
Separately, the governor said the county is among 12 municipalities that will benefit from the £70 million under the Sustainable Urban Economic Development (SUED) programme.
Kisii will get up to Sh800 million be put into value addition projects.
Among the projects to be given priority are soapstone crafts and fruit and vegetable processing.
The administration is also exploring the possibility of tapping into sugarcane juice production as it moves to grow its economy.
The donation will be channelled through Atkins, a charity affiliated to UKAID, to the benefiting municipalities across the country.
Atkins Kenya team leader Simon Elliot said the programme will run for five years with the primary focus being value addition.
Elliot said the agency will work with the Kisii Municipal leadership to integrate value chain development into its urban planning.
“With SUED help, the municipality will utilise a systematic approach to sustainable economic development,” Elliot said.
Elliot was accompanied by SUED Institutional Strengthening leader Jeremiah Nyambane and Stakeholder leader Godwin Ochieng.
The team said they will work with the municipal leadership to innovate solutions that are cognisant of norms and resources.
(edited by O. Owino)