Interior Ministry to retrain national government administrative officers

The Kenya Kwanza government, through the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination, is currently re-training National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs) across the country in line with President William Ruto's Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).  

The exercise was first mooted by Interior Principal Secretary (PS) Dr. Raymond Omollo in October who disclosed that the government had initiated a retraining program for NGAOS with the goal of strengthening their capacity to provide effective, efficient and responsive services to Kenyans.

“We have to ensure that every interaction with mwananchi is marked by timeliness, credible information and a genuine understanding of the needs and concerns of the respective jurisdiction,” PS Omollo said then.

To effectively address peace, security and climate change, the PS highlighted the need to improve stakeholder engagements at the devolved units and challenged government officials at the grassroots level to take the lead in conducting regular public participation for National Government projects and programs to ensure transparency and accountability.

“We have an obligation to the people. It must also not be lost to us that it is the public that funds public services and, therefore, a justifiable expectation on quality and timely services as well as information,” he said.

Presently, NGAOs are supporting the National Treasury and playing a critical role in the ongoing nationwide public participation forum for the Financial Year 2024/25 and the Medium-Term Budget.

The FY 2024/25 and the Medium-Term Budget centres around the implementation of the BETA which seeks to safeguard livelihoods, create employment opportunities jobs and revive businesses.

The current budget hearing process which began on October 30, is designed to foster inclusivity and ensure equity as well as local ownership of the development and prosperity of the country.

The exercise will run through to November 6, granting ample time to Kenyans to give their input on budgetary allocations.

This is the first time National budget preparation hearings are happening in the Counties with previous undertakings primarily conducted only in Nairobi.

NGAOs are essential in this process, informing the public about priority programs and projects in various government sectors and ensuring greater citizen engagement.