Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi will now receive regular updates on the status of the implementation of national government projects across the country.
This emerged following a meeting between Mudavadi and regional commissioners led by Ministry of Interior and National Administration Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo.
During the meeting, Omollo informed Mudavadi that the ministry had formed and operationalised two teams that will be monitoring the implementation of the projects at the grassroots level.
The two teams include the National Government Development Regional Implementation Coordination and Management Committees (NGD-RICMCs).
The other team is the County Implementation Coordination and Management Committees (NGDCICMCs) which will fall under the county commissioners.
Omollo said the committees submit regular reports to the Ministry of Interior for onward transmission to the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary.
"Further, the Committees have interacted with the NDIC Governance and Public Administration Sub-Committee in unlocking challenges affecting the implementation of the BETA projects," Omollo said.
The committees were formed following Executive Order No. 2 of 2023 which was issued by President William Ruto as he reorganised his government and handed Mudavadi more powers.
The Executive Order put Mudavadi in charge of the National Government Coordination Committee, a role that puts him at the centre of overseeing development projects across the country.
On Thursday Omollo told Mudavadi that in line with the executive order and the National Government Coordination Act, 2013, the National Government Administration Officers are ready and committed to the coordination of national government functions in the Counties.
“The officers have operationalized the Guidelines on the Coordination and Implementation of National Government Policies, Programmes and Projects issued by Your Good Office vide Circular dated March 30, 2023," Omollo said.
Omollo said that the Ministry has provided gadgets to the county commissioners to enable tracking national government projects to inform decision-making.
“Through this Project Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), we can have real-time information on the status of the projects. This further informs decision-making," the PS said.
However, Omollo said that while the field Teams are committed to raising the coordination bar and ensuring that all stakeholders are on board throughout the project cycle, there were some communication challenges.
“To address this gap, we are recommending that for effective information management, Ministries Departments and Agencies are urged to communicate to NGAOs through the Ministry Headquarters. This will go a long way in streamlining communication and coordination,” Omollo said.
Other challenges include a lack of cooperation between the coordinating agencies in regions, inadequate citizen engagement and MDAs in the regions before the inception of projects and inadequate resources and tooling.
Others include delays in feedback, lack of regular information from the regional commissioners, legal Issues and disputes, and capacity-building gaps.
To address the challenges, Omollo called for the strengthening of the facilitation of the Regional and County Committees and cascading the committees to the subcounty levels.
He also called for the deploying of officers from the secretariat to all 47 counties to provide the required Secretariat support to the Committees.
"Our officers will strive to collaborate, cooperate and consult with county governments in ensuring the Whole of Nation Approach. This will be done seamlessly without superimposing and interfering with the functions of the County Governments and the attendant structures," the PS said.
Omollo said that the officers are committed to the visibility and relevance of the projects, policies and programmes through awareness-raising and sustained engagement.
“These will go a long way in ensuring value for money and completion of projects," he said.