Day: May 29, 2023

Technical officers will undergo training aimed at integrating the procurement and asset Management within the Integrated Financial Management Information system (IFMIS). The training is part of government efforts to digitize all services and enhance service delivery for all.

The Business Process Re-engineering to be implemented countrywide, will see the procurement module incorporated within IFMIS thereby speeding up the procurement process and effectively addressing and eliminating the headache associated with the recurrent pending bills for government in every financial year.

Speaking during the launch of the IFMIS Inventory Module training for ICT, Accounts, Finance, Audit and Supply Chain officers from the Executive Office of the President (EOP) in Athi River, the Director, Administration in the Office of the Deputy President, Mr. Leonard Ngaluma, commended the National Treasury for identifying the gaps that challenged proper implementation of IFMIS.

The improved system aligned to the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, 2012 will see effective management of inventory while reducing government vulnerability to accusations of mismanagement. The government has continued to take a beating as its systems have remained manual effectively facilitating corruption. Previous efforts at addressing this vulnerability in the procurement system have seen many officers suspended without adequately addressing systemic challenges.

Government processes incorporated in the IFMIS structure include planning, budgeting, accounting, financial reporting and audit. It is anticipated that once all officers are trained on automation of the procurement and assets and inventory modules, the entire IFMIS structure will be completed.

The introduction of the iSupplier, iProcurement and inventory web based systems will facilitate efficient and effective execution of all financial management processes for government thereby eliminating risks, enhancing security and financial controls in all service areas including providing inter-connectivity of county government units.

The re-modified IFMIS will enhance transparency in tracking delivery of goods and tracking payment status for suppliers through the self-service processes. It will also be able to create invoices and initiate delivery while automating the goods inspection process. The invoice tracking solution is an enhancement of the iSupplier portal that seeks to improve transparency and information flow to suppliers. Further, a digital channel will be embedded in the system to allow suppliers query the status of the payments, deliveries and validating their purchase orders through SMS or USSD.

The improved system will see the development of timed projections in line with approved annual budgets while identifying gaps in cash resources early enough to allow for short -term borrowing. It is projected to enable timely disbursements to MDAs while reducing idle cash balances in the MDAs bank accounts.

Mr. Ngaluma reiterated that officers were committed towards the success of the programme expected to go live from July 1, 2023 which marks the start of the government’s new financial year. The EOP comprises the Presidency, Office of the Deputy President and the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Multisectoral stakeholder approaches to fighting malnutrition in West Pokot County have helped to improve coordination of nutrition actions in the county, leading to a decline in cases of malnutrition over the years.

West Pokot County Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Solomon Kokwo, hinted that the cases of malnutrition in the county have reduced due to the concerted efforts of multisectoral and multistakeholder approaches in which they have been finding inventive and creative solutions for fighting and mitigating the effects of malnutrition.

Dr. Kokwo noted that the efforts of leaders from health, education, social protection, agriculture, water children’s offices, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and good will from the government have led to drastic success in measures in the fight against malnutrition in the region.

He further noted: ‘A multisectoral and multistakeholder approach to tackle matters of nutrition has enabled the team to mobilize resources for the implementation of nutrition programmes and projects that have helped fight and mitigate the effects of malnutrition.’

He added that the county government has partnered with non-governmental organizations like Action Against Hunger, World Vision International (WVI), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Africa Medical Research Foundation (AMREF), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Kenya Red Cross (KRC), and other partners who have been key in supporting the health team to be able to improve malnutrition cases in the region.

He went on: ‘So we have been able to assign some wards to specific partners to tackle some specific health challenges, especially nutrition.’ ‘For example, IRC covered most parts of upper Riwo ward, followed by Action against Hunger supporting the rest of the other wards in the county,’ he said.

Dr. Kokwo underscored that the World Vision organization has been supporting the logistics and distribution of food supplements in the region.

‘We have seen improvement over the years since 2010 to date in the fight against malnutrition by the government and other partners,’ Dr. Kokwo disclosed.

He further disclosed that malnutrition cases have been reduced by 10 percent due to the concerted efforts of partners and other nutrition-sensitive actors, adding that stunting has decreased too.

He said the community has been mobilized for behavioural change on how they can produce food and how well they can consume it.

The official lauded the government for taking measures to beef up security in the region, especially for those living along the borders of Uganda and Turkana, for it enables families to settle down and be able to do farming.

‘The ministry of interior, through the county commissioner’s office, has also assisted in tackling cases of instability and insecurity along the West Pokot, Uganda, and Turkana border, which has helped families settle down and be able to do farming,’ he lauded.

In the agriculture sector, he noted that the sector has educated farmers to be able to produce safe, nutritious, and sustainable food for themselves and their families.

He explained that the Ministry of Education is an important partner in the health sector because the school feeding programme has helped reduced cases of vulnerability arising from food insecurity and bring down the malnutrition rate among school-going children.

He termed the school feeding programme a good approach that has helped to alleviate the health and developmental consequences of childhood malnutrition, retain learners, and reduce absenteeism cases in schools.

‘We have also linked very closely with other actors, like the Social Services Department, through the Nutrition Improvement through Cash and Health Education (NICHE) programme, which has helped to improve the nutrition status of children under the age of two years through intense nutritional counselling and additional cash to eligible households that are already recipients of the Government of Kenya Inua Jamiii cash transfer program,’ the medical officer stated.

He narrated that under the NICHE programme, families have benefited from a sh500 donation for purchasing food items for them.

He pointed out the power of aggressive advocacy in print and electronic media, which has helped in the fight against malnutrition in the region, thus reducing the number of malnutrition cases in the county over the years.

‘Partnership with nutrition-sensitive actors has enabled West Pokot County to reduce malnutrition cases over time compared to before, when such cases were high,’ he stated.

He predicted that in the next 5 or 10 years, West Pokot County will be almost on par with the rest of the country on matters of nutrition indicators.

‘In the next 5 or 10 years, we will probably surpass some of the counties that have challenges and are yet to focus on matters related to malnutrition,’ he predicted.

He urged for continued multi-sector and other stakeholders’ collaboration with all health actors in the fight against malnutrition.

‘We are doing well, and we pray that we continue doing well and that we collaborate further with all health actors for the success of the fight against malnutrition.’

He said the upper areas of the county are agricultural, and the lower part is pastoral.

He noted the lower areas of Riwo, Endugh, and parts of Sook wards are facing food shortages due to drought effects contributed by a high rate of crop loss and malnutrition.

He mentioned that farmers in areas affected by drought are not able to produce food that can sustain their families for consumption or commercial purposes due to the effects of climate change.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The State Department for Water and Sanitation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with County Government of Uasin Gishu in collaboration with the water agencies in the region including the North Rift Valley Water Works Development Agency (NRVWWDA), Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency, Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company (ELDOWAS) and Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) to come up with strategies to conserve and protect water infrastructure in order to reduce Non-Revenue Water.

Speaking after the MoU signing ceremony which was held at the governor’s office, the Water and Sanitation Principal Secretary Dr. Paul Rono confirmed the government’s commitment to prioritize water issues in the country.

He mentioned that already 100 dams have been pronounced to be constructed across the country to provide an adequate supply of water for both domestic, irrigation and industrial uses.

Dr. Rono who was in Eldoret on a tour to conduct an assessment on the water needs for people of Uasin Gishu, decried the issue of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) calling for strong cooperation between the national government, county government and water agencies in order to curb the water losses through illegal connections.

The exercise was aimed at coming up with ways of upgrading the current water projects in order to provide sustainable water supply to residents.

‘As the ministry mandated to construct, manage and supervise the 100 dams, we have started the journey by doing an assessment across the country on the water needs and the locations of the dams, and also other medium dams close to 1000 and 3000 small dams like water pans and boreholes,’ he said.

The PS led a team from the national government, county government and other stakeholders in the assessment to inspect existing water projects considered critical in the county like the Kipkaren dam, Kesses Dam, Two Rivers Dam in Kipkorgot, Sitoti in Kaptagat and others.

According to the statistics from the ELDOWAS, the municipality of Eldoret has a daily consumption rate of 65 million liters of water against daily supply of 43 million litres from the existing water projects. Hence the need for upgrade to meet the daily water needs for a population in Eldoret which is estimated at 500,000 people.

The PS confirmed that they intend in the course of this year to start the upgrading of the two-river dam which is believed could provide a lasting solution for water needs in the county. The dam currently has a capacity of 5 million litters and if upgraded will have a capacity of 16 million liters of water which can give a boost to the current supply.

‘We shall also visit the two rivers dam which is also a priority dam for this particular county and we intend to start construction of the two rivers dam in the course of this year. We shall also visit other critical water projects as we know that in this county, we have about 384 colonial dams and other water catchments that we need to desilt so that we can provide sustainable water supply for people of Uasin Gishu,’ noted Dr. Rono.

Speaking during a visit to the stalled Kipkaren Dam project, he called for seriousness and diligence in the implementation of water projects particularly by contractors who don’t complete projects on the agreed timelines. He warned that they will be terminated and blacklisted.

‘For Kipkaren project which we know has been stalled for some time and as the ministry of water we have made a decision to terminate the contract of the Kipkaren contractor so that we can look for another to complete that work,’ he said.

The PS also launched another critical programme called Lindamaji-Lipamaji which is meant to protect the water infrastructure across the country under a police unit called Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit CIPU.

‘We have launched a serious operation in Uasin Gishu county to make sure we eradicate all illegal water connections; we also want to ensure that the water infrastructure that is pipes, water metres, dams and other associated accessories is protected,’ added the PS.

He urged the residents to conserve the environment by planting trees, stop encroaching into the riparian lands and ensure they get water through legal means and at the same time mending immediately any pipes running and not given attention in terms of repair.

Dr. Rono called on residents to report immediately to the water police unit if they see anyone stealing water, vandalizing water equipment and or selling stolen equipment. He warned them against such unlawful acts that they will pay a fine of up to Sh 100,000 or 6 years in jail or both.

‘Anybody found to have connected water illegally will face the full wrath of the law and that is why we have a water police unit here. If you are caught stealing water, or water gadgets like metres pipes and others, or taking them for sale, that one will not be business as usual, you will be fined Sh 100,000 or 6 years in prison or both,’ said. Dr. Rono.

He further noted that the government had invested a lot in water and that Kenyans are paying for the loans which the government took to build the water infrastructure and thus the government cannot tolerate people stealing water, destroying infrastructure, because every drop of water matters.

In regard to the issues related to climate change, he insisted on the need to ensure that the water catchment areas especially the riparian lands are protected by planting the right trees and also making sure that anybody who has encroached into riparian land and water catchment areas are removed.

Noting that water is so critical in livelihoods of the people and the development agenda for the country, Dr. Rono called on the County Commissioner and the county government to team with the ministry of water in order to protect the water catchment areas from people who are encroaching and destroying the critical resources in the country.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Principal Secretary, State Department for Water and Sanitation in the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Dr. Paul Rono, has issued a stern warning to contractors in the water sector who do not finish projects on time, on good quality and cost.

He said that such contractors will have their contracts terminated and given to others with good reputation to complete the projects so that Kenyans can get water services on time.

The PS who was speaking during assessment of water projects in Uasin Gishu when he terminated an approximate Sh 1.5 billion contract of Kipkaren which is a key water project in Eldoret following the contractor’s delay which caused the project to stall for about two years.

He revealed that he will be going across the country to inspect all water projects to make sure they are on course and that if any is found to have stalled because of issues to do with contractors, those contractors will be blacklisted and at the same time their contracts terminated.

‘Those contractors who fail to complete their projects on time, will be blacklisted and at the same time their contracts will be terminated because Kenyans need water, they have waited for so long and money is being paid by the government,’ he warned.

The PS noted that it is a privilege for one as a contractor to get to work for the government and for the people of Kenya and that when they finish work on time, they will be considered for another one.

‘We don’t have a problem with you as a government, if you complete your work on time and with good quality. But if you are a cartel in the corridors of the ministry of water thinking that you can change the specifications or you can change the timelines or you can vary the contract that one is over, your day is over,’ indicated Dr. Rono.

‘And if you keep on doing that, we are going to blacklist you and deal with you because we cannot just let Kenyans suffer because of contractors who don’t finish their work on time and they continuously vary contracts and then the government is paying,’ warned the PS.

Source: Kenya News Agency

A four -storey building collapsed in the Marikiti area in Mombasa, no casualties were reported.

All the tenants mostly traders were forcefully evacuated by the fire and rescue official’s hours before the building crumbled.

The building had developed cracks and it was a matter of when and not if it will collapse.

The county government had issued a notice for the tenants to vacate the premise on May 12, 2023.

‘All the tenants were evacuated safely. The tenants were adamant to vacate. They were issued with a warning notice before this incident,’ said Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir when he visited the scene.

He extolled county officials, CECM Land, Urban Planning and Housing, and Old town MCA for leading the rescue mission.

‘You did the right thing, we would be counting dead bodies,’ said Governor Nassir.

The Governor said a building under construction is set to be demolished after the County Government got the court nod.

Source: Kenya News Agency