The Cabinet Secretary for Water Sanitation and Irrigation Zacharia Njeru led the State Department of Water and Irrigation officials in welcoming the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Directorate of Preventive Services officials for the launch of Compliance Risk Monitoring system in development and management of small, medium and large dams being undertaken by the Ministry.
The EACC move entails the process of identifying, assessing and mitigating potential risks and losses that may arise from none compliance with policies, procedures and practices of work in the development of the dams being implemented by the Ministry across the country.
In his welcoming remarks CS Njeru underscored the importance of having a strong and effective risk monitoring systems as an integral part of ensuring transparency and accountability in the Ministry to ensure citizens got value for their which meant to increase water access and improve the quality of their lives.
To achieve results, he said there was need for the implementers of the projects to have good understanding of underlying risks which lurk internally, and have in place necessary preventive measures to seal loopholes of corruption and pilferage of public resources.
The CS said without supportive preventive measures the EACC has developed, the Ministry might face headwinds in identifying and sealing loopholes in transparency and accountability systems which might bread corruption and malfeasance in future and therefore critical to ensure that all the staff in the Ministry work with integrity to achieve the mandate given by His Excellency the President.
CS Njeru who was accompanied by the PS State Department of Water Sanitation Julius Korir CBS, Water Secretary Eng SAO Alima and Secretary of Administration Mr. Stephen Kihara, CEOs and HODs, emphasized the importance of complying with risk monitoring tools and monitoring interventions and reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment in cooperating with EACC to make internal risk management systems even better to adhere to rule-based order.
EACC Commissioner Colonel (Rtd) Alfred Mshimba and the Director of Preventive Services Mr. Vincent Okong’o leading the Agency’s officials to work with the Ministry to improve on Transparency, accountability and governance structures, thanked the CS for the warm welcome and assurance of unfettered access to service points which required compliance risk management and support to prevent financial losses arising from malpractices.
The EACC officials said the objective of working closely with the Ministries Department and Agencies was to ensure that the established risk monitoring systems and best practices were adopted across Government in the management of public affairs with utmost levels of transparency to curb corruption at all levels of projects’ implementation cycles.
Commissioner Col(rtd) Mshimba said collaboration with the Ministry will go along away to in ensuring adoption of best practices in the management of public financial affairs.