President William Ruto’s appointments of former Cabinet Secretaries Eliud Owalo and Moses Kuria as Deputy Chief of Staff, Performance and Delivery Management and Senior Advisor, respectively, added to the growing list of powerful positions under the Executive Office of the President.
Also added in the list of plum positions in the presidency is Mr Dennis Itumbi, who was appointed as the Head of Creative Economy and Special Projects.
Key offices in the Executive Office of the President include Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Secretary to the Cabinet, State House Comptroller, President’s Strategy and Execution Office, Secretary to the National Security Council and National Security Advisor, and Offices of Women Rights and Council of Climate Change Advisors.
Others are Private Secretary to the President, Office of Fiscal Affairs and Budget Policy, Office of the Economic Transformation, Minorities and Marginalized Affairs Unit, Head of the Presidential Communication Service, State House Spokesperson, and Office of the Government Spokesperson.
Mr Kuria told Nation.Africa that his appointment to join the President’s Council of Economic Advisors is part of the Head of State’s determination to fix the country’s ailing economy. Mr Kuria said he was part of the team that drafted Kenya Kwanza economic agenda in the run up to the 2022 polls.
“I will help fix the economy. I was part of the team that drafted the Kenya Kwanza Plan. I was part of the Economic Forums. I coordinated performance and delivery across all Ministries. I have a working relationship with CSs and PSs. I have what it takes to return the economy back on track,” said Mr Kuria.
In the appointments, the President also appears to have re-established a position similar to Head of Presidential Delivery Unit under former President Uhuru Kenyatta by appointing Mr Owalo to be in charge of Performance and Delivery Management of all ministries and parastatals.
The mandate handed to Mr Owalo was previously under Mr Kuria when he served as Public Service, Performance & Delivery Management Cabinet Secretary.
The Friday appointment also implies that State House will now have two deputy Chief of Staff since Mr Owalo will be joining Josephat Nanok, who was appointed to the position in 2022.
State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed told Nation Africa that the mandates of Mr Owalo and Mr Nanok are distinct.
He said Mr Nanok’s major mandates include acting as the President’s focal point in various official engagements. Mr Nanok also chairs weekly meetings by the advisory teams and forward their outcomes to the Head of Public Service.
“He also facilitates the President’s meetings and follow up on the resolutions that come from those meetings. He also follows up on their implementations,” said Mr Mohamed.
He explained that Mr Owalo’s role will largely focus on implementation and delivery of government priority projects. Mr Owalo’s office is also in charge of institutionalizing performance contracting across all ministries, state departments and agencies.
State House is said to have created the position to ensure its priority projects are communicated effectively to the public. At the height of the youth-led protests, the President admitted that the withdrawn Finance Bill, 2024 and other government programmes were not communicated well to the public.
During Mr Kenyatta’s tenure, Nzioka Waita served as deputy Chief of Staff and Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit. He had powers and influence to push for the implementation of the pillar projects in the Jubilee manifesto.
He was also to monitor the performance of key parastatals to ensure that service was delivered to the public and key projects implemented.
Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei in a circular announcing the appointments said Mr Owalo will be charged with overseeing performance of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies in service delivery.
“To support the Executive Office of the President in delivering its mandate, His Excellency the President has, with the approval of the Public Service Commission (PSC), appointed Mr Eliud Owalo EGH as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Performance & Delivery Management,” said Mr Koskei.
“This ministerial level appointment will among other roles, be responsible for effective and efficient implementation, monitoring and evaluation of priority projects and initiatives of the 5th administration in line with the BETA Plan,” he said.
By implication, Mr Owalo’s overall mandate will include overseeing performance management across all Ministries, State Departments and Parastatals and to ensure effective implementation of the Administration’s revitalized priorities as espoused in the Bottom Up Economic Agenda (BETA).
The role also entails oversight of both the Public Service Performance Management Unit and the Government Delivery Unit (GDU).
It also implies that Mr Owalo becomes a Principal Deputy to Mr Koskei, who is charged with the responsibility of overseeing all aspects of Performance Management within Government plus Delivery of Government Projects and programmes.
“Under the tutelage and close guidance of the President, I look forward to working with all stakeholders in strengthening the Performance Management framework within Government; inculcating a Results-Based Culture in the Public Service; and ensuring efficient and effective delivery of Government Priority Projects and programmes in line with the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA),” said Mr Owalo, who is has years of experience as an Economist, Management Consultant, Strategy and Performance Management Expert.
He will be in charge of coordinating performance management by consolidate performance contracting and efficiency monitoring across all ministries, state departments and agencies.
He would further be mandated to develop and maintain an effective delivery mechanism that drives the implementation of the government’s development agenda while overseeing the implementation of the administration’s flagship programmes and projects under BETA.
He is also expected to develop and implement a framework for performance contracting and evaluation across the senior ranks of the Executive including Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and Chief Executive Officers of State Corporations.
