Matiang’i Pledges Leaner Government to Curb Resource Wastage

Presidential aspirant Fred Matiang’i has announced that his first action in office would be to reduce the size of government in a bid to curb the wastage of public resources

Speaking to supporters in Nyasore, Kisii County, Matiang’i criticized past administrations for mismanaging public funds, a problem he says has long hindered Kenya’s development

He singled out the current President William Ruto-led administration, claiming it has overspent on unnecessary expenditures

“The kind of country we have right now, I don’t understand the size of government we have. It is a drain on resources. Poor prioritization of government programmes is one way to cut waste,” Matiang’i told NTV

“Governments are very wasteful. Even when I was in government, there were things I saw we could do without. This administration has taken it to a whole new level. With a trackload of advisors and all manner of people, all the overheads we incur are essentially wastage,” he added

Matiang’i highlighted how excessive spending has affected critical sectors like education. He recalled his tenure as Education Cabinet Secretary, during which the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) was launched to streamline educational data collection and management

However, he said the system was scrapped by the current administration in favor of the Kenya Education Management Information System (KEMIS), wasting the resources previously invested

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NEMIS, funded in part by a multi-million-dollar World Bank grant, tracked the performance and mobility of learners and teachers to ensure effective resource utilization

Matiang’i claimed that scrapping it led to inaccurate data, inefficiencies, and suspicions of corruption tied to the awarding of new tenders

He pointed out that NEMIS’s failure contributed to an estimated Ksh.1.3 billion loss through fraud and ghost schools. “All the resources that were spent on NEMIS were wasted,” Matiang’i said

Writer : Mweru Mbugua