NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 18 – An online system that will enable the government to monitor the implementation of projects as well as increase the rate at which development funds are absorbed will soon be operationalised, the government has disclosed.
Finance Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua said on Monday that the implementation of the Electronic Project Monitoring System (e-ProMIS) would improve the efficiency and transparency of programs that are financed through both locally generated funds and donor money.
“There are challenges both on the government’s side and that of the development partners but the poor performance (utilisation rate) is both embarrassing and unacceptable. But part of efforts to reverse this trend is to ensure that we can tell where we are on a day-to-day basis of the implementation,” he said.
It is estimated that on average, Kenya only manages to use 50 percent of donor funds and about 70 percent of domestically generated resources in any given financial year. This, more often than not, sees about 30 percent of resources that are apportioned to ministries returned to the exchequer on an annual basis.
The biggest problem that the country has had in the use of those funds has been blamed on procurement challenges, capacity constraints and delays in the disbursement of donor money.
PS Kinyua said through the e-ProMIS Kenya software, which will provide real time supervision of the programs, implementing agents would be able to promptly identify and rectify any problems that might result in project delays.
“This is unlike standard monitoring frameworks that focus more on collecting implementation indicators that are reviewed at the end of the year, which is too late to promptly take any corrective measures,” he said.
Mr Kinyua added that the e-ProMIS would also provide a structured platform through which various agencies can get accurate and timely reports and which can be used for policy formulation.
For this to happen however, he emphasised the need to feed the system with correct information about the projects that are implemented.
“e-ProMIS will be as good as what you put in it. If you put garbage in, you give garbage out. Moreover, you can’t sit back and assume that the system will do everything for you,” he told ICT and Chief Financial officers from 42 ministries who were being trained on how to use the system.
Through the system, Treasury, members of the public, donors and other stakeholders will be able see which ministry is lagging behind in executing its projects. It will also be a key determinant for Treasury in funds allocation.
Kris Senanu the Managing Director of Communications Solutions at AccessKenya Group which developed the software said the general public would be able to access reliable details of such projects which will in turn promote accountability.
“If we can give access to the press to get the right information at the right time, then all the mystery shrouded around projects can be eliminated,” said Mr Senanu.
