The European Union (EU) has committed Sh841.9 million (€6million) over the next three years to help 15 counties in the Western, Central, and Coast regions improve their performance management systems.

Through Kenya’s Integrated Performance Management Policy (KIPMP), the funds will strengthen the counties’ executive and legislative abilities in public expenditure management processes by equipping them with tools, knowledge, and infrastructure to manage public resources efficiently and deliver essential services to citizens.

EU Ambassador to Kenya Henriette Geiger said that strengthening performance management at the local level is crucial to improving service delivery in healthcare, education, infrastructure, and other critical areas.

“It is like a surgical intervention. If we want to strengthen devolution, we must strengthen systems at the county level. Performance management is not just a top-down approach; it must be driven from the communities where services are delivered,” said Geiger.

She went on: “If we want to see real transformation, it must happen where people are – at the local level.”

Geiger made the remarks during a meeting with the Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Performance and Delivery Management Unit, Eliud Owalo, along with officials from the Public Service Performance Management Unit (PSPMU) and Government Delivery Unit (GDU), at his office.

The EU will offer expertise in performance contracting and organizing workshops focused on effective management and reporting.

“We are thinking of sensitizing public servants on the entire chain of performance contracting and management programmes. We also need to leverage the ICT infrastructure through end-to-end automation of monitoring and evaluation systems. Here, we shall need support from various EU member states,” said Owalo. The automation of government systems will ensure a more streamlined approach to data management and performance tracking.

“The EU does have the Technical and Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX) to support public administrations of our partner countries through sharing of EU best practices and peer-to-peer exchanges with experts from EU member states public administrations, “charged the envoy.

She added: “I believe this instrument would be appropriate to address some of the goals that the Deputy Chief of Staff has defined in your Terms of References.”