Ruto Embeds Transparency Scorecards in Cabinet Contracts Under New Openness

President William Ruto has announced the development of Kenya’s inaugural State of Openness Report, describing it as a groundbreaking initiative that will strengthen transparency, accountability and access to information across government institutions while helping combat misinformation and restore public trust.

The report, which is being developed through a partnership between the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), will establish a national benchmark for measuring transparency, accountability and institutional performance across ministries, state agencies, constitutional commissions and county governments.

Speaking during multi-stakeholder consultations at State House, Nairobi, on Thursday, Ruto said the initiative would provide an honest assessment of government performance while identifying areas requiring reforms to improve openness and public confidence.

“We are working towards entrenching openness across Government by ensuring wide access to information in ministries, departments and agencies,’ President Ruto said.

“Our objective is to build and earn public trust while confronting the growing threat of fake news, misinformation, disinformation and propaganda through transparency, accountability and accessibility to accurate information.”

Government Pushes Digital Transparency

The President said the government had leveraged technology to make public services more transparent, efficient and accountable, citing significant progress in the digitisation of services since taking office.

“We are leveraging technology to realise this vision. We have expanded the digitisation of Government services from just 350 in 2022 to more than 26,000, making public services more accessible, efficient and accountable.

We have introduced a Unified Government Digital Payment Platform to eliminate leakages, reduce opportunities for corruption and strengthen accountability in the collection of public revenue.

We have also implemented electronic procurement to enhance transparency, promote fair competition and ensure prudent use of public resources.”

Ruto added that the government had enacted key legal reforms aimed at promoting integrity and merit-based public service while reducing political interference in state institutions.

“To ensure openness to Government Owned Enterprises, we have enacted a law that is helping strengthen transparent, merit-based and competitive recruitment free from political influence.

Additionally, the enactment of the Conflict of Interest Act has further reinforced integrity by strengthening transparency, accountability and ethical conduct of public officers.

In the implementation of the National Infrastructure Fund (NIF), we have also introduced robust mechanisms to strengthen openness and transparency, limiting the President’s role in the appointment of the NIF Council, enhancing institutional independence and accountability.”

World’s First State of Openness Report

The Head of State directed all government institutions to fully support the preparation of the report, which he said would be the first of its kind globally.

“At State House Nairobi, commissioned consultations and eventual preparation of Kenya’s inaugural State of Openness Report. It will establish a national benchmark for measuring transparency, accountability and institutional performance across Government, while providing an honest assessment of where we are succeeding, what we must improve and the reforms necessary to strengthen public trust.

I direct every ministry, department, agency, constitutional commission and county government to extend their full cooperation to the Commission on Administrative Justice by providing timely, accurate and comprehensive information throughout this exercise.

Our report on the state of openness, to be launched later in the year, will be the first of its kind in the world.”

The State of Openness Report will be jointly developed by the Commission on Administrative Justice and UNODC to create a data-driven framework for assessing how public institutions comply with the Access to Information Act and Kenya’s broader open governance commitments.

UNODC Deputy Regional Representative for Eastern Africa Koen Marquering said the report would provide an objective basis for evaluating transparency and accountability across public institutions.

“This work is a cornerstone of a more transparent and accountable public service,” Marquering said.

He noted that standardized data collection tools and cross-agency assessments would be used to evaluate compliance by ministries, state agencies and county governments while identifying gaps in the implementation of access-to-information obligations.

The initiative forms part of Kenya’s commitments under the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and complements proposals to include transparency and access-to-information indicators in the annual performance contracts of Cabinet Secretaries and Principal Secretaries.

Officials said the programme will also support digital transparency platforms, including Publish What You Borrow and the Jihusishe citizen engagement application, giving the public easier access to information on government borrowing, public debt and budget implementation.

Civil society organisations, among them Mzalendo Trust and ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa, are participating in the consultations to help shape the report’s methodology and monitoring framework. The findings are expected to guide future reforms aimed at improving compliance with the Access to Information Act and strengthening accountability across public institutions.