NAIROBI: PRESS RELEASE

The Government has expressed its commitment in revolutionizing service delivery in public institutions for the benefit of the citizenry.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga said with the new constitution Kenyans should be assured of a lot of reforms in the public sector.
In his speech during the award ceremony of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Quality Management System (QMS) 9001:2008 to the Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 and the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) at KICC today, Mr. Odinga emphasized on the need for public servants to enhance their performance to restore confidence in the civil service.
"We as a Government should take lead in spearheading these reforms. This will only be possible if preceded by public service reforms. Let ISO QMS Certification be the mustard seed that will mushroom into a culture of quality and efficiency in Government business," said the Prime Minister.
He praised the Ministry and one of its Semi- Autonomous Agencies KIPPRA for their achievement noting that ISO QMS standards "are a reflection of global consensus on good management practices that aim at ensuring quality and customer focused service delivery."
Prime Minister Raila Odinga while acknowledging that the road to the system certification was long and rough urged the Ministry officials to jealously guard the accomplishment.
"Earning the SGS Certification and UKAS Quality Management Marks which you can proudly flaunt from today is certainly no easy achievement. But this certification is merely half of the victory. You must now consolidate these gains and live up to the expectations of this certification to ensure the effort which you invested in the lead up to certification is sustained," he said.
Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 Minister Mr. Wycliffe Oparanya said with ISO 9001:2008, his Ministry was in a better position to execute its mandate of providing leadership in policy formulation and coordinating implementation of the country’s economic blue print Kenya Vision 2030 in a more transparent and accountable manner.
"Therefore to satisfy the public’s expectation of service delivery, government agencies are now required to conform to international quality management systems in order to offer quality services to the public," said Oparanya.
He said there was no operational area within the scope of certification at the Ministry and KIPPRA that functions outside the documented ISO QMS procedures.
"In my office for example there are 10 procedures that guide my actions in discharging my duties to deliver the Ministry’s mandate and the most important thing is that the management system has closely linked operations across operational areas thus there can be no passing of the buck as systems are talking to each other ensuring effectiveness, timeliness, transparency and accountability at every stage," said the minister.
On his part, the Ministry’s Assistant Minister Mr. Peter Kenneth noted that for the country to attain the Kenya Vision 2030, there’s need to adopt innovative systems of service delivery geared towards strengthening global competitiveness.
"Until recently, the general perception in the public sector has been that pursuance of ISO certification is the preserve of the private sector. However, with the onset of the public sector reforms, this attitude has changed and ISO certification has become a widespread practice and public institutions are now increasingly working to conform to the international standards," he said.
Addressing the same meeting Head of Public Service Ambassador Francis Muthaura said for the country to achieve its goals as outlined in the Vision 2030, a modern result oriented public service was a prerequisite.
"The overall aim is to enhance efficiency and effectiveness together with probity and integrity in service delivery. When the delivery of services is constrained it affects the quality of life of the people and a country’s development," said Muthaura.
He said the Government had on a number of occasions introduced intervention measures to boost service delivery in the public service citing the Results Based Management (RBM) introduced in 2004 and Performance Contracting in 2003.
According to the Head of Public Service, currently 470 institutions; 46 ministries and accounting departments, 178 State Corporations, 175 Local Authorities and 71 Tertiary institutions are on performance contract.
Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 PS Dr. Edward Sambili expressed delight saying the award of ISO certificates marks the beginning of a lasting commitment to offer services that are benchmarked to international standards.
He said to ensure the system is maintained and improved on a continuous basis they have put in place a comprehensive framework in line with the requirements of the standards including scheduled internal audits, management reviews and customer feedback among others.
Ends………..

Dave Jones Buchere
Public Relations Officer
Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030