The Government and Development Partners have agreed to form a task force to look into hastening the absorption of donor funds allocated to various programs across the country.
Speaking on Tuesday when he hosted the Second Development Partnership Forum at his Official Residence in Karen Gachagua said the formation of the task force is part of steps being taken by the Kenya Kwanza administration to enhance the Government’s collaboration with the Development Partners and accelerate socioeconomic growth.
“We encourage continuous engagement with our development partners. President Ruto’s administration modus operandi is continuous engagement with our partners and so far it has worked very well for us. We have removed the bottlenecks that frustrated our engagement. The President has spelled out the need to lessen bureaucracy and red tape so that we can make progress in our partnership,” said Gachagua.
The meeting was attended by the Co-chairs of the Development Partnership Forum Sebastian Groth (German Ambassador to Kenya) and Stephen Jackson (UN Resident Coordinator) were also present, Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, Cabinet Secretaries, Ambassadors and Heads of Missions, top Government officials and representative of various agencies.
“We recognize that improving absorption rates of funds requires addressing challenges on both sides in project implementation, and ensuring timely disbursement and utilization of funds,” said the Deputy President.
The task force, comprising government and development partner representatives, will be mandated to work on and address challenges such as absorption funds and grants.
Asking the task force to move with speed in addressing the challenges, Gachagua said he and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi will continue meeting at the High-Level Consultation Forum, which they co-chair, to deal with impediments that may be hindering the expeditious implementation of the agreed development programs.
A joint statement read by the Principal Secretary State Department for National Treasury, Chris Kiptoo, after the meeting, indicated that both the Government and the Development Partners agreed that the absorption of committed funds and loans has not been at its optimal level.
He said both parties have a common desire to address the challenges and obstacles hindering the absorption of funds.
