State Department of Cabinet Affairs Principal Secretary Dr. Idris Salim Dakota now says Kenya’s public sector productivity is below the threshold needed for economic transformation.
Speaking at Kitale National Polytechnic in Trans Nzoia County during Productivity mainstreaming training, Dr Salim said productivity mainstreaming is part of public sector reforms undertaken by Kenya Kwanza administration.
He stated that the reforms are geared towards operational efficiency, labour efficiency and customer satisfaction.
“The question has been ere we operating at the right cost, do we have the right work force and are we providing quality services to our people?” he posed.
The training is also meant to align the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) with labour productivity.
“The President of this Country, William Ruto campaigned on what we call Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda and there is no linkage between economic transformation and labour productivity and that is why we are doing this,” the PS said.
Ballooning wage bill
He further noted that the government was concerned with the ballooning wage bill at the expense of development.
“We have realized there is a lot of wastage and duplication. Currently, our wage bill is weigh above what is recommended. We are between 46 and 47% against 35% recommended by the Public Finance Management Act,” PS Salim said.
He however stated that the government is committed to addressing this concern pointing out that salaries and wages should fall below 35%.
“Reducing this will help President Ruto achieve his mandate,” he noted.
The PS also revealed that this year, productivity mainstreaming was made part of performance contracting for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The trainees are expected to come up with five specific outcomes. These include development of labour productivity metrics, development of productivity data collection skills, analysis of data, development of productivity index for informed decisions and productivity enhancement strategy.
Attendees of the training include Universities and tertiary institutions heads among other heads of government institutions and agencies.
