PFMR Steering Committee Meeting

The PFMR Steering Committee Meeting Held On February 18,2020 At The National Treasury, 14th Floor Conference Room Speech by PS, National Treasury;

1. Good morning. Former Chairman of the PFM DP Forum (Mr. Tim Williamson), Chairman of the PFM DP Forum (Mr. Vincent De Boer), representatives of PFM DP Forum and implementing MDAs, Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this PFMR Steering Committee meeting.

2. As you may be aware, the Government has been carrying out a more organized PFM reforms agenda since 2006. The first PFM reform Strategy covered the period 2006-2011 under the theme “Revitalization of Public Financial Management System in Kenya”.

3. At the end of the implementation period, many of the proposed reforms had not been completed. Additionally, the changes in the Constitution 2010 also presented new opportunities for major institutional and legal reforms in PFM systems.

4. These issues among others formed the foundation upon which the 2^nd PFM Reform Strategy 2013-2018 was formulated. Significant investments were made for over 5 years to translate the PFM provisions of the new Constitution into reality.

5. Upon expiry of the Strategy 2013-2018 which was designed around functional themes based on the budget cycle, studies and analytical work was done which revealed a number of challenges that informed the development of the draft PFMR Strategy 2018-2023 that we are going to consider shortly in this meeting.

6. The Strategy has been developed to focus on results achievement of identified challenges as opposed to mere activities implementation.

7. The Government appreciates the support by the DPs and specifically World Bank (WB) through the Kenya Accountable Devolution Programme (KADP) in the development of the draft PFMR Strategy 2018-2023.

8. I would also like to thank the Royal Danish Embassy for the support in the development of the PFMR Programme Operations Manual and the Communication Strategy.  There is no doubt that the documents will go a long way to assist the PFMR Secretariat and implementing MDAs in the  implementation of PFM Reforms.

9. I am happy to note that the documents have been comprehensively prepared through wide consultations with key stakeholders. The process has ensured that most of the gaps that existed in the previous reform strategies have been captured and activities to address them well formulated.

10. I also note that the documents have been adopted by the Technical Committee and recommended for approval by the Steering Committee and that their implementation has already started.

11. Allow me to point out that PFM reforms are key to the Government’s agenda as it seeks to address challenges which impact on service delivery. The achievement of results is crucial in the Government’s development agenda as they will trigger the release of budgetary support to the Government from participating DPs and thus help to fund more reforms as well as other Government priorities.

12. In conclusion, I call upon all the implementing MDAs to work hard towards achieving the results identified within the Strategy and reiterate that the National Treasury through the PFMR Secretariat is committed to providing the necessary support to ensure smooth implementation of the relevant key steps and activities.

      Thank you and once again, I welcome you to the meeting.