President William Ruto on Friday, January 6, 2023, challenged members of his Cabinet to put their best foot forward in a bid to deliver the Kenya Kwanza Alliance manifesto to the electorate.

The Head of State said all Cabinet Secretaries must strive to make the government efficient by getting rid of bureaucratic red tapes that sabotage seamless delivery of services.

“Let us not be hostages of past traditions, they say ‘insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results’. If we must get different results, we must do things differently,” the President said.

He urged the Cabinet to embrace technology as part of efforts to stream line services in government.

“It’s not necessary to write a letter if making a telephone call is sufficient. It’s not necessary to make a telephone call if writing sms is sufficient. We must make the work of government efficient,” President Ruto said.

“I make it my business once a day to clear my desk. Results are a product of decisions. Do not hold the government at ransom. When files are sent to your desk, clear them. Each of us must clear our desks once a day.”

President Ruto spoke when he opened a four-day Cabinet retreat at the Fairmont Mt Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki, Nyeri county.

He urged CSs, Principal Secretaries (PSs) and other high-ranking officials attending the function to feel free to consult whenever they encounter challenges in executing their mandate.

“Feel free to consult. I have run a ministry, I know it can sometimes be very difficult and lonely, not knowing whether you’re making the right decision. I have given you my number, drop an SMS and I will be here to assist,” he added.

Ruto said his government will focus on digitising services to make them more accessible to the citizenry.

“We have about 300 govt services that are digitized and it is my expectation that the 5,000 un-digitized services will be digitized in the next 6 months,” the President stated.

The retreat kicked off on Thursday with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi chairing the meeting.

Mudavadi, who has over 30 years of experience in government, said the meeting seeks to enhance teamwork in Ruto’s administration.

Besides the bonding, the minister noted that the session is key in helping new appointees “put politics behind for work”. 

“We want to put politics behind and prevent scenarios where government officials talk every time and people get down to serious business of delivering the campaign pledges,” Mudavadi said.