The government, in a move to clean up the corrupt house, has banned cash transactions involving tenders for prisons and the National Youth Service (NYS).
According to the Interior Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i, the government is committed to the ongoing clean-up in various departments for better transparency, accountability, and minimizing on the wastage of funds by those misusing their offices.
“All payments involving the prison services and the related department will either be by a cheque or electronically,” said the CS.
He added that a trackable and traceable receipt system will also be implemented firmly believing that regardless of any difficulty, the system should, and will work.
The CS noted that for the first time since the correctional facilities in Kenya were started, there is not a single dime in bill arrears courtesy of the clean-up process.
Margaret Kobia, his Public Service, Youth and Gender colleague promised that there will be no more cash scandals happening through the NYS procurement process.
Kobia and Matiang’i were speaking at Kaloleni GK Prisons in Kilifi on Wednesday during the Kenya Prisons Service and the NYS signing of a deal that seeks to provide an extensive framework from which better governance will be deliberated.
The deal is banked on the two bodies’ commitment to work together on mutually advantageous activities while at the same time sealing corruption loopholes and reducing costs.
The two agreed that the time to make the public service sector efficient, transparent, credible, accountable and citizen-oriented is now. Meanwhile, during the signing of the deal, Matiang’i and Kobia officially launched a joint borehole drilling project to exemplify the inception of a partnership geared towards utilizing resources for the better.
Matiang’i said that the drilling of boreholes for the Kenyan prisons under the NYS rates will save them from high costs and they will save up to half the drilling costs. Kobia said that the Kenyan prisons have ready service for the cause citing the availability of labor and the necessary equipment.
Matiang’i agreed saying that the Prisons has all the resources that can enable it to become independent if only they are utilized wisely.