When the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) government under Mwai Kibaki took over power in 2003, one of the apparatus they implemented was performance contracts and appraisals within the public service.

The rationale behind the move was to infuse a private sector mentality of value for money and accountability in the public sector by introducing a culture of delivering quality and timely services to citizens and helping the government ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and competence.

However, 20 years later, the majority of Kenyans are disappointed by endless cycles of unfulfilled pledges.  This is despite performance contracting being embedded in the public service for 19 years. It is coded through the Public Service Commission (Performance Management) Regulations 2021, as a means of managing performance in public service.

The country’s social fabric has been significantly damaged by a political culture that fails to keep promises and widespread corruption. This has led to a lack of trust in the government and created a divide between citizens’ aspirations and government policy.

Many Kenyans have lost faith in the government’s ability to fulfil its promises, viewing campaign pledges as empty rhetoric rather than meaningful commitments. This has led to widespread doubt about the government’s obligation to deliver on its word.

On August 1, during the signing of performance contracts by Cabinet Secretaries (CSs), Principal Secretaries (PSs) and heads of parastatals at the State House in Nairobi, President William Ruto said many Kenyans have been disappointed by endless cycles of unfulfilled pledges, because of the leadership’s long history of white elephant projects and corruption scandals.

“Some see these commitments as vendor-driven kickback rackets disguised as conspiracies to embezzle public funds. We cannot afford to wait and see where this road may lead, because it has already brought us to a terrible place. It is time to call an end to it once and for all,” the President said.

The signing by the government officials is intended to strengthen the connection between performance contracts and key performance indicators outlined in the program-based budget under implementation by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Under this, the CSs will now be tasked with facilitating government programmes, policies and delivering services to the citizenry on a value-for-money basis.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a forum where governments of 37 democracies with market-based economies collaborate to develop policy standards to promote sustainable economic growth, says public trust leads to greater compliance with a wide range of public policies, such as public health responses, regulations and the tax system.

OECD further states that public trust nurtures political participation, strengthens social cohesion, and builds institutional legitimacy. In the longer term, the organisations add that trust is needed to help governments tackle long-term societal challenges.

In April, the President stated that performance management will be implemented throughout the government and no public institution funded through the exchequer would be exempted. He promised to hold every officer serving in government to account for both their performance in service delivery and stewardship of public resources. “I shall deal with cases of negligence, misappropriation, embezzlement, theft or other misconduct or corruption in relation to public resources summarily and decisively. You are hereby duly notified,” he said.

The Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary has been tasked with the responsibility of formulating a Bill that will make it compulsory for all public servants to enter into performance contracts with the government.

This will be the overarching law to anchor performance contracting in public institutions at both levels of government. Once enacted into law, it will result in value-for-money from public investments through adoption, streamlining and unifying norms of a whole-of-government approach.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi notes that if implemented well, it is an instrument that should assist the country to achieve its long-term economic development policy goals. The government will also provide a framework for rewarding performance and sanctioning non-performance.