By Martin Masai

As Machakos County celebrates glowing performance ratings of its County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) and Chief Officers, the assessment reads like an alternate universe.

On the ground, hue and cry dominate: staff salaries remain unpaid as of September 18, the Finance Minister Onesmus Kuyu has been demoted, and 36 revenue officers were sent home without letters and referred to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation.

A damning letter from the Controller of Budget Dr. Margaret Nyakang’o only recently clamped down on approving the county budget, putting it on abeyance due to systemic financial failures in the county and debilitating opaque leadership.

How, then, do these upheavals reconcile with a self-administered survey that gives top marks to the very departments under fire?
According to the county’s own figures, Agriculture and Food Security scored 94.1 percent, Economic Planning 93.4 percent, Public Service and Performance Management 91.7 percent, and Finance 80.5 percent — all classified as “Good.”

Twelve departments were rated “Fair,” while 19 languished in the “Poor” category, with Health, Environment and Natural Resources bottoming out at 36.3 percent.

On core mandates, the survey paints a picture of excellence. Unbelievably, the Public Service and Performance Management- viewed as the epicenter of rot, was rated 99.9 percent on its core duties. Here, staff are sent home without letters – the best case being that of Eight Revenue Officers who were recently recalled and deployed after a one year ‘suspension’ while on full salary. Economic Planning was rated at 99.3 percent, the Office of the Governor 99.0 percent, and Public Communications and E-Government 97.1 percent. Yet the county’s service delivery record raises doubts about whether such marks are deserved.
Finance, which scored 80.5 percent overall, sits at the center of controversy. It has not delivered its Kes 4b projected revenue for three years in a row. Its parent ministry, combining Economic Planning, Revenue, Public Communications and ICT, only managed 69.3 percent, exposing weaknesses in integration. Kuyu, the Finance Minister was demoted in a midnight reshuffle, 36 revenue officers were interdicted and hustled to EACC, and salaries for county staff are still outstanding — evidence of systemic financial and administrative dysfunction.

Even the Office of the Governor and Public Communications departments, both of which scored above 97 percent on core mandates, landed in the “Fair” category overall at 74.3 percent and 71.3 percent respectively, hinting at breakdowns in execution or credibility gaps. It it is highly possible that this rating may be based on this survey, which is probably a public relations stunt for the governor.

At ministerial level, Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperative Development led the “Fair” group with 78.1 percent, while the worst performers were Health at 55.3 percent, Roads, Transport and Public Works at 57.8 percent, Devolution at 58.0 percent, Water, Irrigation, Environment and Climate Change at 54.6 percent, and Education, ECDE and Vocational Training at 46.1 percent.

The glaring contradictions are not only between core mandates and overall performance, but between the survey and the lived reality of Machakos residents.

Departments charged with frontline services — including health, education, environment, and inspectorate — consistently underperformed both on mandates and administration, yet the county’s narrative focuses on its strong performers.

Public Service and Performance Management stands out as an exception, with 91.7 percent overall and 99.9 percent on core mandates, suggesting that at least one department has managed to blend administrative discipline and delivery.

But the county’s weakest areas — digital economy, ICT infrastructure, vocational training, environment, inspectorate, and fire services — point to a governance model where headline reforms have not translated into real-world improvements.
This self-assessment, while acknowledging weaknesses, risks papering over deep-seated dysfunction unless backed by independent verification.

Without a clear link between high internal scores and the day-to-day realities of staff salaries, budget integrity, and service delivery, the survey risks becoming a public relations exercise rather than an accountability tool.

Stay Anchored http://www.theanchormedia.org