Smarter performance managers needed to make Kenya wealthier

It’s no news that Kenya’s administrative, economic and education systems need much help to make the citizens happier, richer and good achievers of their goals. Whereas there is no country that is free of social and economic challenges, nations led by smarter performance managers in their key sectors do much better in achieving their national goals. Moving from a Third World to a First World in economic rankings demands human resources with massive competency, future focus of national values and the culture of hard work.

The art and science of performance of government-owned institutions is delivered through the three branches of the national government; the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. The county governments have two branches; the Executive branch led by the elected governors and the legislative branch made up of the elected members of the county assemblies. The daily activities of these branches of government should reflect the national values of patriotism, national unity, good governance, integrity and sustainable development.

Public administration is the daily process of managing national and county governments' owned agendas and policies, ensuring their efficient execution for the benefit of the nation. Increasing the public sector performance is vital for maintenance of law and order, infrastructure, service delivery and the efficiency of the government expenditure. The public sector's performance is highly dependent on the capacity and commitment of its employees, not just on the money being spent.

In Kenya, as is common elsewhere, the public sector performance has a heavy footprint on the national economy. Globally, the general government wage bill accounts for about 10 per cent of Gross Domestic Product and the public sector workforce accounts for 36 per cent of formal employees. Higher performance or outputs of the public sector will hence increase a significant portion of Kenya’s economy overall with a subsequent impact on the national welfare. A better performing public sector that spends and uses taxpayers’ money wisely and effectively will increase citizens’ trust in their government.

This year’s (2025- 2026) budget is Sh4.2 trillion or $336 billion (28.4 per cent of the GDP). Despite these historically largest national budget, and a national debt of $82.5 billion together, which economists call “the price of governments in this age of fiscal crisis”, there are a number of complaints of lack of funds by public officers resulting to low work productivity – performance. According to The Standard of February 14, Kenya still ranks below average in corruption fight, after scoring 32 points out of 100, below the global average of 43 points. Other news also show that whereas some county governments have been performe well, many others have performed poorly. In the light of all these public concerns about the performance and financial sustainability of many public institutions, what are the solutions?

The best solution is to source and deploy smarter and competitive performance managers. Such managers can greatly transform the country’s political, economic, educational and administrative systems. Smarter performance managers are a special type of professionals who craft dynamic national institutions where the whole; the nation, is greater than the sum of the parts. Kenya does not need to reinvent the wheel. We only need to learn from the best practice of other nations. Singapore is a good example here.

In the social and economic development of growing nations, there are four common super-performance success factors. First, effective performance management has to start from the top. As the wise say, there is no place above the head to touch. The true measure of leadership is influence and trust. Leaders and top managers of Kenya’s public sector organisations must continuously and visibly demonstrate intense commitment to performance management that is objectives and results oriented.

Second, motivate performance through staff development and intrinsic and extrinsic incentives. Public officers can be motivated through monetary and non-monetary rewards.

Third, ensure clear strategic visions, goals, alignment. Steering and motivating employees towards achieving the goals of Kenya demands a clear vision of what the visions, goals are and how they can be achieved effectively. This is the management by objectives, performance audits and results approach of institutional success.

Fourth, embed public performance management in the national culture and national honours and awards medals in December every year. The performance management systems of individuals need be well integrated into the organisation's culture.

Performance management is a critical tool in greatly improving the productivity and efficiency of the public sector institutions. Public sector productivity is key to effective economic growth, job creation and service delivery. It’s key to international donor support, overall expenditure efficiency and happier, richer citizens.

The paradox of Africa is well known: Too much poverty existing amidst a lot of wealth. Poverty is not natural. Like ignorance, its contextually made and it can be eradicated by the visions, missions and actions of smarter leadership. We are in the age of permanent fiscal deficit. Now is the time to have smarter performance managers in the public sector to make Kenya wealthier, more reputable.