President William Ruto has cautioned his Cabinet Secretaries to take personal responsibility for their mandate as there is no room for failure.
He spoke on Tuesday during the Ministerial performance contract signing, which saw the CSs and their Principal Secretaries sign commitments, at the State House.
“I expect each CS to take personal responsibility for achieving the targets outlined in their ministry’s contracts. There is no room for excuse, delay or failure,” he said.
“Accountability must cascade through all levels of ministries, departments and agencies, to individual officers.”
Ruto said by aligning their functions with the commitments, every ministry, department and agency contributes to a rising tide of inclusive prosperity.
He noted that the contracts signed are action plans for urgent, precise and efficient execution.
The President said at the end of the 2025/26 financial year, each Cabinet Secretary will receive a performance report card reflecting their ministry’s achievement.
He explained that the scorecards will ensure that performance contracting is not seen as a meaningless ritual.
Ruto added that the cards will carry recognition, rewards and sanctions which will be applied without fail.
He said excellence, integrity, consistency and efficiency will be rewarded while failure, negligence, and misconduct will promptly invite corrective action.
Ruto emphasised that performance contracting should be deployed in ways that raise the levels of engagement and motivation, and promote greater conformity with the values and principles of public service.
“In other words, I fully expect to see continuous improvement in responsiveness, efficiency and integrity of our offices collectively and individually,” he said.
The President stated that to ensure seamless implementation, the national treasury will disburse available budgetary allocations on time.
“Lack of funds or delay in their release should not be an excuse for failure to serve citizens. Consequently, our planning, budgeting and execution functions must operate in closer harmony to achieve these goals,” Ruto added.
He stated that he has established an office to strengthen coordination.
"To strengthen coordination, I have also established an office to focus on Performance and Delivery Management in the Executive Office of the President. Through this office, all ministries and departments will be facilitated to quickly address performance deficiencies and oversee the timely implementation of corrective measures," he said.
