KHALID: Public sector a letdown to hard-working Kenyans

Kenyans are putting intense pressure on the national and county governments to improve their public sector performance while also containing their expenditure growth.

Public sector performances are everything that is effective and efficient in the delivery of goods and services to the public. We were hard-working, faithful and disciplined citizens, but as the screaming headlines show in the local press, Kenyans are frustrated optimists.

“Kenyans cry of pain; A nation in blackout of shame; Let us save our country; President Ruto reads riot act; Passport delays to persist; Fees shock for varsity students; The trouble in counties: Governors confession; Nairobi to get costlier on planned taxes; The month of double pain; Unemployment pandemic.”

During the past 60 years of independence, thanks to all our patriots, we have grown into a more united, democratic and richer country with current GDP of over $110bn. As our athletes like Ferdinand Omanyala and Faith Kipyegon so admirably demonstrate in global competitions, Kenya is a remarkable country with an outstanding history and constitution.

However despite our past good records, on this day most of the citizens are not excited with the socioeconomic situation prevailing in the country. Why is this the case?

The invisible elephant in the room about all the pain being felt by Kenyans points at the unimpressive work performance results of our public sectors. The gaps between our present economic realities and past ideals, dreams of “Stand for freedoms at any cost,” to quote Tom Mboya are growing larger by the month.

The country needs peace, love and unity but should also stand for freedom from ignorance, diseases, poverty trap and maladministration of any kind. According to the National Treasury, the costs per year to Kenyans of the three arms of the state, the executive, legislature and judiciary, have reached Sh1 trillion or $7 billion.

Kenyans are asking, what percentage of the potential benefits are they getting from such huge expenditure growth? Most likely less than 50 percent. In what economic situation will the nation be by 2063, at 100 years of independence?

The three main sets available to the government to achieve its goals of national prosperity are the laws led by the Constitution, taxes and the public sector leaders with their workforce. However, the famous public choice theory of economics informs the world that there are three maximising groups in any democratic nation.

The elected leaders who seek to maximise their votes, the civil servants who seek to maximise their salaries and the voters who seek to maximise their short-term utilities. The question is, who is caring for the general and long-term, multiyear outlooksof the nation?

The greatness of Kenya is consistent with what I call ‘the five catapults’ which together could foster our economic growth and national security.

The first catapult of our political and economic greatness is the nation’s world-class Constitution of 2010 with 18 chapters and 264 articles. The Constitution guides us, “we the people,” on our “true North” journey to more freedom and prosperity.

The second catapult is the national values and cultures. Getting objectives, budget and staffing right are essential for public sector performance, but so is the cultural environment that the government creates in order to nurture higher mission achievements. The first duty of a public official is to keep a government clean and honest, and attract a talent culture of excellence.

The third catapult is the work ethics and capacities of the public sector workforce. Values, vision and competencies are everything. Why is getting a passport, for instance, taking such a long time in Kenya, creating too many worries for those affected? Why are punctuality and faster deliveries of services a problem for counties and national government workers?

Yet to be excellent and to do excellence is all they have to do to achieve the best results. To be average is the enemy of being great. President Ruto and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi are on target with their demands for superior public sector performance on their recent signing of performance contracts.

The ultimate test of management is performance. Achievement is the proof and aims of the management of our national and county issues. We are hard workers, therefore we become. We vote therefore we are. We transform the public sector, therefore we become. Freedom from poverty to power: winners on wheels, wise walking on water.

The fourth catapult is infrastructure, building roads, bridges, ports, new towns and more to deliver goods and services cheaply to their destinations.

The fifth catapult is governmental support for education, universities, basic research and development. Education is not an option in the 21st century where to be “average is officially over”. Education deficit is too large in Kenya and needs to be addressed with more intensity. Why have 500,000 students who sat the KCSE exam last year not applies for university placement? What is not going right?

We are living in turbulent times and therefore the urgent need for new catapults for Kenya’s greatness. Relentless reliability of high performance of all the sectors of our country demands to be driven by more future-proof, inspired people with the right vision, skills, passion and heroic values. Heroic values that resonate with the citizens as individual persons and households. Kenyans deserve the best.

Strategic management consultant