Applying the Rapid Results Approach in Kenya

After years of poor governance and economic mismanagement under the Moi regime, Kenya’s new NARC government is eager to quickly reverse Kenya’s falling social and economic indicators and achieve tangible results within a short period of time. During a capacity enhancement mission held in January 2004, senior government officials and leaders of the private sector in Kenya emphasized that the key capacity enhancement challenge in Kenya is to implement the government’s comprehensive and ambitious Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS) for Wealth and Employment Creation.  While the government was fully committed to the policies outlined in the ERS, there was an acute need for assisting the government in achieving tangible results that would meet the high expectations of the general public. The Rapid Results Approach (RRA) was seen by the Government as an important and timely tool to help jump-start the change processes. The RRA was presented to the staff of a number of ministries who expressed readiness and interest to apply it to their operations.

In this context, the World Bank team conducted a number of workshops with senior government officials from 18 ministries. Over 200 government officials were introduced to the RRA and over 50 were trained to become Rapid-Results coaches, who would champion the results orientation in government operations. Furthermore, the team helped the government prioritize its investment program and strengthen its results orientation. This focus on results in Kenya has generated great enthusiasm within the government. Many of Kenya’s leaders now see the RRA as an important implementation tool, which will speed up reform and generate tangible results quickly. The President of Kenya himself has initiated Rapid-Results Initiatives to tackle a large number of uncompleted projects inherited from the previous government.

The Ministry of Provincial Administration and National Security and the Ministry of Tourism and Information pioneered the application of the RRA in government operations by launching the first wave of Rapid-Results Initiatives (RRIs). Five months later, a second wave of RRIs was launched by the Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture and the National AIDS Control Council. A total of 21 RR teams were launched. The RRIs have begun to strengthen the government’s implementation capacity and are changing the officials’ mindset to create a results-based culture.

A number of the RRIs in Kenya are still ongoing but below are some illustrations of the kinds of results generated by the RRIs:

Security

The Ministry of Provincial Administration and National Security launched two RR teams focusing on improving security in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD). The teams achieved the following:

• Reduced the number of muggings from 100 to 1 per month;
• Reduced the number of carjackings from 200 to 4 per month;
• Reduced the number of robberies from 30 to 12 per month;
• Reduced the number of shootings from 7 to 1 per month;
• Reduced the incidences of motor vehicle theft from 7 to 2 per month.

A second wave of RRIs was launched in August, 2004 by the Ministry, expanding the use of the RRA to other parts of the country.

HIV/AIDS

The National AIDS Control Council (NACC) launched 3 RR teams to cover three results areas:

• Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs): The team exceeded its goal of providing care for 1300 OVCs and is supporting 1500 OVCs and 300 caregivers.
• Workplace prevention: The team opened a community center, staffed it with 6 counselors and is providing VCT services to 450 jua kali jua kali - informal economy workers workers per month, exceeding the initial goal of 200 workers per month.
• Young girls’ protection: The team equipped 3 mobile VCT centers and provided VCT testing cervices to 300 girls living in the Mukuru slums of Nairobi.

The IS team will continue to provide support to the five ministries in Kenya that have launched RRIs.