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{
"id": 1438655,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1438655/?format=api",
"text_counter": 143,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning",
"speaker": null,
"content": "and implement long-term climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies to generate strong resilience pathways. Our climate action agenda is informed by the need to restore our degraded ecosystems, which include forests, rivers and wetlands. It is for this reason that H.E. the President has rallied Kenyans to prioritise environmental conservation, implement aggressive reforestation, afforestation and wetland restoration programmes and reverse biodiversity loss and land degradation. In response to the President’s call, the Government has stepped up climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, including green energy, smart agriculture, de-carbonized manufacturing, e-mobility and green building, all aimed at the attainment of zero carbon by 2050. I, therefore, urge all Kenyans to support the Government’s response to the ecosystem restoration plan, which aims to grow 15 billion trees nationwide by 2030. On policy, legal, and institutional reforms, while we have made progress as a nation, we remain alive to structural constraints that impede the pace of economic development. Aware that sustainable economic transformation is predicated on the timely implementation of appropriate policy, legal and institutional reforms, I propose the following interventions that will improve the business environment, increase efficiency in public service delivery and strengthen accountability and transparency in public finance management. First, are public procurement reforms. In my last Budget Statement, I informed this House of the Government’s plan to fully automate public procurement and disposal processes by implementing an end-to-end e-Government Procurement System. Phase I of the e-Government Procurement System has successfully undergone User Acceptance Testing and Piloting in twelve selected MDAs and counties. This piloting will continue up to December 2024. The system comprises, among others, an e-marketplace for common user items where prices from various outlets are visible, allowing intense competition in the procurement of those common user items. Once the e-Government Procurement System is rolled out, all MDAs and Executive Offices of County Governments will be required to fully transition to the system, while State agencies and corporations, county assemblies and county agencies will be on-boarded in the second phase within the Financial Year 2024/2025. The system will reduce the cost of goods, works and services by between 10 per cent and 15 per cent, maximize value for money, and increase transparency in procurement. The second is restraining the growth of the public sector wage bill. The public sector wage bill continues to rise, leaving few resources for development. The public sector wage bill stood at 38.2 per cent as a ratio of total revenue in 2021. To contain the wage bill, the Government implemented a wage freeze in the Financial Years 2021/22 and 2022/23, in addition to eliminating and streamlining a number of allowances. Further actions planned in relation to containing the wage bill include: First, all MDAs and county governments should review and rationalize their staff establishments to ensure affordability, and fiscal sustainability with the right composition and skill set; Second, the Government will roll out the Unified Human Resource Information System for the entire Public Service starting 1st July 2024. The System consolidates human resource and payroll data in the Public Service for access through a single warehouse. The System has been linked to Kenya Revenue Authority i-tax to facilitate the filing of PAYE returns. This reform will eliminate the multiple, manual, and stand-alone payroll systems; Third, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission will continue streamlining allowances that are paid in the Public Service through harmonisation and rationalisation of the categories, rates and rules for allowances; and, Fourth, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission will progressively review allowances and benefits in the future collective bargaining agreements and align them to the provisions of the Allowances Policy Framework for the public service. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}