Soipan Tuya, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry, has stated that her ministry is in the process of streamlining the country’s charcoal trade.
This is with the aim to guarantee that it is conducted properly and in an environmentally sustainable manner by putting in place adequate legal safeguards.
“We also commit to decriminalize charcoal trade, modernize and commercialize the charcoal value chain; promote youth-owned and operated briquette-making enterprises and support the scaling up of clean cooking,” CS Tuya said.
CS Tuya listed the promotion of agroforestry and sustainable waste management as her ministry’s other top priorities this year during the signing of 2023 to 2024 financial year performance contracts with principal secretaries and chairmen of parastatals under her ministry at the Kenya Meteorological Department complex on Thursday.
“In this regard, the priority value chains for intervention include biomass energy (wood fuel), agroforestry, and solid waste management.
“The objective in agroforestry is to develop a policy and regulatory framework to attract climate finance funds into the sector and establish 5 million acres of agroforestry woodlots in drylands. We also intend to map and organize waste collectors into cooperatives and provide “circular economy” waste separation sites/infrastructure,” the CS said.
She stated that the departmental performance contracts for the fiscal years 2023-2024 were a result of the ministerial targets signed by herself and President Dr. William Ruto on Tuesday this week at State House in Nairobi.
The targets in the performance contracts, according to CS Tuya, were drawn from the ministry’s recently launched 2023-2027 five-year strategic plan, the Kenya Kwanza administration’s Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), and deliverables agreed upon at a Government retreat in Nanyuki late last year.
“Further, I am aware that all the PCs have incorporated the Nanyuki agreed one-year deliverables (by 30th June 2024). It is on this basis that the Performance Contracts for FY 2023/2024 have met all the requirements as per the 20th Cycle Performance Contracting Guidelines
and are, therefore, finalized and ready for signing,” she said.
Ms. Njoki Wang’ombe, Principal Secretary for Performance Management and Service Delivery in the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, attended the signing ceremony and reminded officers in her ministry to strictly adhere to established Government performance management guidelines.
“As we sign these contracts today, let me remind you that you are required to strictly adhere to the performance reporting, both quarterly and annually. My office will be expecting to receive these reports promptly and at stipulated timelines.”
“It is my hope that all the set targets will be achieved and you are encouraged to timely communicate to my office any
challenges and constraints affecting the implementation,” the CS said.
Simultaneously, the Cabinet Secretary emphasised the importance of performance contracting in public service, stating that the government employs it to boost productivity and create accountability.
“The Government continues to use performance contracting as a key tool for accountability and is part of the broader public sector reforms aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness in the management of the public
service to improve service delivery,” she said.
Principal Secretaries Eng Festus Ng’eno (Environment and Climate Change) and Mr. Gitonga Mugambi (Forestry) assured CS Tuya of their commitment to see that the performance contracts were successfully implemented in their addresses.
“We are going to take necessary measures to ensure that the delivery is done,” PS Mugambi said and advised ministry staff to regularly document necessary performance evidence in prescribed formats for ease of reporting and evaluation.
Eng Ng’eno reaffirmed his forestry counterpart’s commitment, adding that the performance contracts were entirely linked with the ministry’s 2023-2027 strategy plan and several source documents including Kenya Vision 2030.
“I want to give you our assurance that the performance contracts are aligned to our 2023 to 2027 strategic plan that was launched just last week, Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)…”, PS Ng’eno noted.
PS Wang’ombe, for her part, applauded the ministry for being the first to sign departmental performance contracts, saying it had set a good example for others to follow.
She guaranteed the ministry of her state department’s continuing cooperation in achieving its performance contracting objectives.
“As the Principal Secretary in charge of performance management, I commit to supporting your ministry throughout this process. My team and I will provide the necessary tools, frameworks, and resources and facilitate effective performance measurement and evaluation,” PS Wang’ombe assured CS Tuya.
