Nairobi: National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) in Nairobi Region have been called upon to enhance the monitoring and evaluation of government-funded programmes and projects to enable the intended beneficiaries reap benefits. The Nairobi Regional Commissioner (RC) Gilbert Kitiyo emphasized the necessity for NGAO and other public officers implementing the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) projects and Presidential Directives to track the projects to ensure success.
According to Kenya News Agency, Kitiyo stated, ‘Our effectiveness will be judged not by meetings held, but by projects completed, livelihoods improved and transformed, and bottlenecks resolved in real time.’ These remarks were made in a speech read on his behalf by the Nairobi North Sub Region County Commissioner Simon Osumba during the Nairobi Region sensitization workshop for NGAO Officers and agencies implementing bottom-up economic transformation agenda initiatives, held at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development.
The two-day meeting, which was also attended by Government Delivery Unit officers and Regional and County heads of national government departments, aimed at evaluating achievements and successes of BETA programmes and projects, their tangible results, accountability, and their measurable impact at the grassroots level. Kitiyo directed NGAO officers, who are the backbone of the government at the Regional, County and Sub County levels, to align the NGAO structure with the Executive Office of the President by ensuring that Presidential Directives are clearly understood, properly tracked, and accurately reported and acted upon without delay.
Kitiyo further instructed the officers to ensure that the policy on BETA programmes initiated by the government translates into deliverables, which must be tracked and reported. He stated that the success or failure of these programmes is based on how well they coordinate, monitor, and escalate issues on the ground and urged NGAO officers to support ministries and agencies by identifying gaps early enough.
He also called upon the officers to escalate challenges through structured, evidence-based reporting, to ensure uniform interpretation of Presidential Directives, as well as to strengthen collaboration and coordination across counties. Regarding the BETA programmes and projects that have been implemented in the region, the RC noted that they are viable and expanding, singling out the Hustler Fund uptake, the market infrastructure upgrade, and construction of modern markets in various sub-counties.
Among other successful programmes are the construction of affordable housing units, students’ hostels, digital superhighway centres, and the East Africa Kidney Institute, which will carry out kidney transplants at a cost of Sh650,000, offering a cheaper alternative to those seeking the transplants abroad. Kitiyo also urged Kenyans to register with the Social Health Authority and Social Health Insurance Fund to enable them to benefit from affordable medical cover.
