Varsities, National Treasury top in State's performance appraisal

The National Treasury building, Nairobi.[Elvis Ogina,Standard]

Universities have dominated the list of top ten best performing parastatals in performance contracting of all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) with the University of Embu emerging as the best-performing state corporation.

The National Treasury was ranked the best ministry.

This is according to the latest report by the Public Service Performance Management and Monitoring Unit (PSPMMU) looking at the performance of 223 public institutions in the last financial year.

In the ranking, Tharaka Nithi University emerged second, followed by the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Curriculum Development, Assessment and Certification Council.

The University of Nairobi, National Irrigation Authority, Chuka University, Kenya Industrial Estates, South Eastern Kenya University, Capital Markets Authority and Media Council of Kenya rounded up the top ten slots.

“Out of the 223 State Corporations whose performance was evaluated, five representing 2.2 per cent attained an “excellent” performance grade, while 23 per cent attained a “very good” performance grade,” explains the report. “A total of 167 State corporations, representing 74.8 per cent achieved a “good”, “fair” or “poor” grade and hence did not achieve their agreed performance targets,” explains the report.

The report evaluates public offices based on their respective progress in implementing performance contracting and ranks them in terms of management, financial responsibility, and staff development.

“The analysis of the performance of State corporations indicates that there was a marginal decline in performance in the 2019/2020 financial year compared to that of 2018/2019,” explains the PSPMMU in its report.

The bottom ten performing State corporations include Kenya Airports Authority, Nzoia Sugar Company, Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority, East African Portland Cement and Kenya Cultural Centre.

Others include South Nyanza Sugar Company Ltd, Tana Water Works Development Agency, Kenya Meat Commission, School Equipment Production Unit and Chemelil Sugar Company.

In the ranking for ministries, the National Treasury and Planning emerged the top, followed by State House, Ministry of East African Community and Office of the Attorney General.

The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage, Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology and Youth Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture were ranked bottom four respectively.

The report further indicates that public offices still fall short of implementing tangible anti-corruption policies as well as procurement reforms meant to expand access to state tenders.

Ministries, State corporations and tertiary institutions scored 29.8 per cent, 48.91 per cent and 25 per cent respectively in achieving commitments to reducing corruption.

In terms of project completion, the ministries, State corporations and tertiary institutions scored 69 per cent, 79 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.

The report notes that youth, women and persons with disabilities missed out on Sh21 billion in State tenders reserved for the marginalised groups in the 2019/2020 financial year.

“All ministries, departments and agencies were required to allocate at least 30 per cent of their annual procurement budget towards economic empowerment of youth, women and persons living with disability,” explains the report.

 “Performance for the 366 MDAs that were on performance contract during the 2019/2020 financial year indicate that tenders worth Sh45.96 billion were awarded against a target of Sh67.47 billion.”

The report comes months after Kenya and the International Monetary Fund signed an agreement for a Sh266.8 billion extended credit facility to support the country’s post-Covid-19 recovery.

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