Ruto's CSs make lofty pledges amid intense scrutiny of bottom-up plan

President William Ruto chairs Cabinet Meeting at State House, Nairobi. [File, Standard] Under intense public scrutiny, Cabinet Secretaries have made lofty commitments to be fulfilled by June next year and prop the flagship Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda. President William Ruto's Cabinet ratified their performance contracts in an exercise still ongoing, and promised to fulfill pledges made in their respective sectors. The Standard has seen the Key Performance Indicators that will gauge effectiveness of CSs, part of a move the Head of State, recently under pressure from youth over unfulfilled promises, will keep his ministers on toes. The two-week exercise - led by Deputy Chief of Staff Eliud Owalo, in charge of Performance and Delivery, and Secretary to the Cabinet Mercy Wanjau - will culminate in signing of performance contracts by all ministers and principle secretaries. "If any ministry, parastatal, government department or agency is performing then it stands a chance of enhancement in budgetary allocation. Any of them not performing will also face sanctions including, but not limited, to budgetary reductions," said Owalo. Agriculture CS Andrew Karanja, who on Monday set his ministerial targets, pledged to oversee distribution of 12.5 million bags of fertiliser by next year, register 200,000 new farmers on the e-voucher system and roll out the distribution of 27new high yield varieties of sugarcane. Similarly, he committed to enhance the tea sector by implementing value-addition facilities and completing a tea tasting sector. Other pledges include installing 220 bulk milk coolers in 36 counties and restocking livestock lost during drought and flooding. Agriculture and food security feature top Dr Ruto's manifesto, in which he promised to enhance production. In two years, the sector has been mired in controversy, ranging from the fake fertiliser and seeds scandal to chaos in tea, coffee and milk sectors. Lands, Public Works and Urban Development CS Alice Wahome pledged to construct more than 65,000 affordable housing and over 50,000 social units in the next year. The National Police Service and the Kenya Defence Forces are also set to benefit with 24,152 and 10,003 units if Wahome keeps her word. Her plan also includes construction of markets, issuing title deeds to some 280,000 Kenyans and settling squatters. "During the contract period, the Ministry commits to guarantee security of tenure, land rights and improved livelihood of 16,000 household squatter families in ten counties," Wahome committed, including digitisation of land registries in all counties and decentralising land services. On his part, Cooperatives and MSMEs CS Wycliffe Oparanya pledged to waive coffee debts worth Sh2 billion in the current financial year and promote the sector. Oparanya, responsible for the Ruto's Hustler Fund, also committed to enhance access to quality and affordable financing for MSMEs, enabling the strengthening the governance framework within the sector and policy reforms to create a conducive business environment for MSMEs. More than 20 million subscribers have enrolled into the Hustler Fund, which has disbursed more than Sh50 billion for individuals. MSMEs have accessed over Sh60 billion. Investments, Trade and Industry CS Salim Mvurya made nine commitments, chief among them being to coordinate implementation of the Buy Kenya-Build Kenya initiative, which would be enabled by a cotton, textile and apparels policy. The initiative would include tracking the procurement of uniforms and shoes for Kenya's disciplined forces as well as health products by the medical supplies authority from local manufacturers. He also pledged to fill up export processing zones and complete the operationalisation of four more, as well as developing an e-commerce policy and a digital services export strategy. Other Trade ministry commitments include turning around the Kenya National Trading Corporation and improving the investment climate. "Informed by the performance of the ministries during the last activity period, I am confident that the targets we have set for the ministries are realistic and achievable, all factors being constant," said Owalo. The Health and ICT ministries, also responsible for implementing other pillars of the bottom-up policy, were meant to ratify their performance contracts yesterday but the activity was put off. During the exercise, the respective ministries also highlight their successes in the previous year, ahead of a soon-expected appraisal of their performance. In Agriculture, achievements include reduction in cost of fertiliser and unga, as well as enhanced agricultural production, among others. Oparanya listed achievements in enhancing access to cheaper credit for Kenyans and MSMEs through the Hustler Fund, with Mvurya's ministry highlighting access to the European Union export market and an increase in exports from Sh871 billion to Sh1 trillion in the last year. Wahome touted the 103,000 housing units constructed across 40 counties and the more than 200,000 jobs created in the housing sector, among others.

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