Lokichar, August 27, 2024 (Public Communications and Media Relations)
In its dissemination of annual Monitoring and Evaluation Report for FY’ 2023/2024 in Lokichar, Turkana South, the County Government of Turkana is proud to be ranked among the 14 first tier counties for its best performance in regards to the monitoring and evaluation reporting mechanisms.
The first tier comprises of counties with relatively strong M&E systems, while the second tier include counties with average M&E capacity and the third tier counties have comparatively poor M&E systems.
According to the Council of Governor’s (COG) Report, 2023 on County’s Monitoring and Evaluation Capacity Assessment, The Ag. Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, John Ekaru, said, Turkana County was ranked the best in all the 11 parameters assessed such as; existence of M&E Directorate, availability of full-time M&E officers, availability of M&E Policy, use of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques, tracking of M&E Indicators in the County Integrated Development Plans (CIDP) and Annual Development Plans (ADP) and presence of documented rules and for data collection and aggregation.
Other aspects were; reporting on e-County Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation System (e-CIMES) and the presence of ICT-based M&E system, availability of M&E training and and capacity-building avenues at county level, preparation of M&E progress reports and possession of M&E skills and competencies of county staff.
The County’s M&E Director John Ekaru attributed these results to partnership support between the County government and USAID Nawiri.
He said this during the dissemination of Monitoring and Evaluation Report, which aimed at reviewing projects status, compare performance of Departments with previous years, understand projects implementation challenges and validate the report to produce action points.
Ekaru explained, in the preliminary report, 401 projects were assessed across 11 County Departments with a total contract sum of Sh. 3.7 billion.
“Of the projects, 173 accounting to 43% of the total projects, were established to be complete as at 20th of August 2024. Different Departments had different completion rates with tourism leading at 61% and Education being the least at 18%.” Ekaru explained. This simply means, there were 44 projects assessed in Tourism Department, yet only 27 were complete, whereas in Education, there were a total of 62 projects assessed but only 11 were complete.
On his part, Joseph Emase, Data and Information Systems Advisor says, “USAID Nawiri’s commitment to a robust, county-centred approach is both visionary and pragmatic.We understand that tackling acute malnutrition requires more than just temporary fixes; it demands a comprehensive, systems-based strategy. This approach is founded on the belief that sustainable progress comes from strengthening our own systems, engaging our communities, and fostering collaboration among all sectors of society.”
He further added that one of the cornerstones of this partnership is the commitment to learning and adaptation. By agreeing to quarterly meetings and Annual report dissemination workshops, Emase said, we are setting a precedent for transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.
The two-day USAID Nawiri’s supported Dissemination Report meeting had brought together 30 directors and technical officers from all the 11 County Departments.
