The staff of the National Assembly of Kenya have kicked off preparations in earnest for the orientation of the newly elected Members of the National Assembly and for the inception of the 13th Parliament. 

Speaking to staff this morning, the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly Ms. Serah Kioko, and the Deputy Clerk, Mr. Jeremiah Ndombi noted that a good number of the elected Members will be serving their first term hence the need to prepare adequately for their orientation and induction into the House operations.

They two were addressing officers during the launch of the exercise for the signing of Balance Scorecards for middle level management staff, as well as Performance indicators for lower cadre staff. The exercise marks the culmination of a performance management program which has was rolled out by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) two years ago. The process aims at optimizing performance and entrenching a work ethic that rewards merit.

During the launch of the program,a year ago, the Speaker of the National Assembly who is also the PSC chair,  Hon. Justin Muturi noted that the new framework will enable the Commission to keep track of whether it was achieving its strategic objectives while institutionalizing its Strategic Plan by aligning all decisions and efforts to the plan.

“ In the current system, diligent and hardworking officers are accorded the same opportunities as those who do not exert the same effort. This is certainly not fair and it is one of the challenges intended to be addressed with the new system,” he noted then.

Performance contracting is one of the key public sector reforms that seek to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the management of the public service. This model borrows from the long-held practice in the private sector and is aimed at measuring individual performance and ensuring that every employee plays their part in achieving the objectives of the organization.