On November 21, 2018, Kisii governor James Ongwae warned county workers that absenteeism and poor performance would no longer be tolerated as his administration moved to tighten accountability in the public service.
Speaking at the Culture Hall during the signing of staff performance contracts, Ongwae said county officers had to deliver on their duties or step aside. He insisted that the county leadership had a mandate from voters and could not allow employees to draw salaries and allowances without reporting to work.
“It is no longer business as usual. You must deliver at all costs. That is my directive,” Ongwae said.
He added that the county would not keep workers who failed to show up for duty. “The Deputy Governor and I were given specific a mandate by the electorate. We want to deliver on what we promised. It is either you come to work or resign. It is as simple as that,” he said.
The governor’s remarks came amid concerns that some junior staff had been receiving monthly pay while absconding duty, a practice he said had undermined service delivery in the county.
Ongwae also told chief officers to take responsibility for leadership and supervision within their departments. The chief officers signed contracts with their departmental directors on Tuesday as part of the county’s effort to improve performance.
He said the administration intended to use his background as a human resource expert to streamline management of county workers and push through his manifesto. Ongwae also said the government had sent the wrong signal by appearing lenient, allowing some officers to take advantage of the system.
“As an administration, we may have sent the wrong signal that we are lenient and some workers have been taking advantage to abscond from duty. Let me assure you that going forward, my deputy governor and I shall relentlessly crack the whip on nonperforming officers until the culture of satisfactory service delivery is institutionalised,” he said.
The county boss said the performance contracting programme would be extended to officers in lower cadres. Under the new appraisal system, officers in Job Group J to Q were expected to commit to annual output targets with their directors through agreed performance indicators to be signed early next year.
Ongwae said the county was pursuing better service delivery with support from the Kenya Devolution Support Programme, a World Bank initiative. He also said staff had already undergone training under an ongoing scheme meant to improve service delivery.
He denied that the performance contracting exercise was meant to target individuals unfairly. Deputy Governor Joash Maangi, meanwhile, backed the initiative.
The article also linked to a related report on Ongwae’s reshuffle of the county executive Cabinet.
