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Huduma Centre at GPO in Nairobi offers various government services. [File, Standard]
The Government of Kenya has been deliberate and consistent in its call for a productive, efficient and accountable public service. From the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) to the Medium-Term Revenue Strategy, the policy signal is unmistakable: Public institutions must demonstrate value for every shilling of expenditure. The National Productivity and Performance Conference held recently was a welcome reinforcement of that agenda, providing an important platform to translate policy intent into practical action. What that conversation made clear is that fiscal sustainability and service excellence are not competing priorities. They are achieved together, through one instrument; institutionalised productivity measurement.
The distinction between spending control and productivity improvement is worth dwelling on. Expenditure management asks how much is being spent while productivity measurement asks how much value is being generated per shilling committed. An institution that delivers more output within its existing resource envelope does not merely satisfy a compliance requirement. It becomes a force multiplier for the government's development agenda, expanding what the state can offer citizens without requiring additional budgetary allocation. This is precisely the kind of performance culture the government has been calling for, and it is achievable when accountability mechanisms are built to capture it.
