By Issa Hussein - Reporter
Kenya, June 17, 2026 - Head of Public Service Felix Kosgey has called for a shift from activity to measurable impact in government, saying citizens will judge state performance by improvements in their daily lives, not by reports or meetings.
Officially opening the National Productivity and Performance Conference 2026 at the Kenya School of Government, Nairobi, on Tuesday, Kosgey said productivity must become the organising principle for public service.
“Government will ultimately be judged not by the number of meetings held, reports produced, or processes completed, but by the improvements citizens experience in their daily lives,” he said.
The three-day conference, running from June 17–19, is convened by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). It has brought together leaders from the National and County Governments, Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices, academia, development partners, and the private sector.
Kosgey emphasized that “productivity must be measured because what gets measured gets done.”
He urged government to “move from activity to impact, transform public resources into public value, and ensure that productivity becomes the organising principle through which we strengthen fiscal sustainability, improve competitiveness, and deliver better services.”
He called for a Whole-of-Government approach to implementation, adding that “Kenya's challenge is no longer merely to govern, but to govern productively.”
The conference is serving as a platform to examine how Kenya can build a high-performance culture across public institutions, strengthen the linkage between planning, budgeting and results, accelerate digital transformation, and institutionalise accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Delegates are deliberating on the productivity imperative as a foundation for fiscal sustainability, national competitiveness, and effective service delivery.
Present at the opening were Council of Governors Chairperson and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi; Principal Secretaries; Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers of Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices; Governors, Deputy Governors and County Executives; Vice Chancellors and representatives of universities and research institutions; development partners; private sector leaders; and senior officials from the National and County Governments.
More from Kenya