A continent-wide ‘Honest Public Service Campaign’ by ECA kickstarts in Kenya

Abstract

Several top Kenyan government officials, representatives of various unions and commissions, and heads of international organizations converged in Nairobi on 22 January to support the rollout of the Honest Public Service Campaign, dubbed Huduma Halisi (in Swahili) in Kenya. Huduma Halisi is an initiative by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to promote a culture of transparency, accountability and integrity in the delivery of public services in African countries. The concept aligns with the African Union’s (AU) 2018 call for continent-wide actions to win the fight against corruption as “a sustainable path to Africa’s transformation.” ECA’s executive secretary was represented at the event by the Commission’s principal regional advisor, Sylvain Boko who praised the government of Kenya for recognizing good public service as a “cornerstone of good governance.” Mr. Boko said Kenya has done a “tremendous job” in aligning its national vision to the global sustainable development goals, noting that “ECA analysis for the period of 2008- 2017 shows that Kenya has made improvements in the rule of law, accountability and transparency, personal safety, rights, gender empowerment, the business environment, welfare and education.”