President William Ruto has pledged to ensure an accountable government and a robust fight against corruption.
Speaking when he chaired the first meeting of the newly constituted Cabinet at State House Nairobi on Tuesday, President Ruto told Cabinet members to participate not only in issues related to their ministries but also in matters of national importance.
He also said Cabinet meetings and committees must take precedence over any other engagements.
At the meeting, the Cabinet was informed that progress had been made on the issues that the President had committed to the country when he appointed the Cabinet, including digitisation of public procurement to make it transparent, and digitisation of the government payroll to eliminate incidences of ghost workers.
On these issues, the Cabinet was informed that the digitisation of government procurement has registered positive progress and is expected to be rolled out early next year.
The President spoke on cleaning up the government payroll through digitisation telling the Cabinet that the human resource development plan has been developed and discussion on it will begin shortly.
On the various Bills aimed at strengthening accountability in government and the fight against corruption, the meeting was informed that the Attorney-General was taking action to ensure that the necessary amendments are made and taken to Parliament.
The Cabinet was also briefed on the roll-out of the Universal Health Coverage, a key government programme aimed at ensuring that all Kenyans have access to fully paid healthcare.
The meeting was informed that UHC will be rolled out on October 1, 2024, and that registration is going on. Already, 1.2 million Kenyans have registered, while nine million members of the National Health Insurance Fund will transition to the new Social Health Authority.
The Ministry of Interior was directed to help in public education on registration and health benefits through the National Government Administration Officers.
Hustler Fund
The Cabinet was informed that the Hustler Fund has seen 250,000 beneficiaries grow their personal loan limit and are also able to borrow KSh50,000.
In addition, the Cabinet was told that two million people faithfully borrow from the Hustler Fund every day. As a result, the Ministry of Cooperatives and MSMEs plans to graduate them to an SME loan by the end of the year.
Additionally Cabinet was told that 522,000 bags of subsidised fertiliser have been procured and distributed for the short rains season in Central, Eastern and Western Kenya regions.
Plans are in place to ensure that fertiliser will also be available on time for the long rains season next year.
The Cabinet was also briefed on various programmes and events: The Establishment of the Kenya Watershed Services Improvement Programme, National Wildlife Census, United Nations World Tourism Week and Mpox Disease Outbreak.
