WEST POKOT DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND PLANNING PUSHES FOR POLICY SENSITIZATION AND ADOPTION

The West Pokot County Treasury has spearheaded the sensitization and adoption of new policies aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and stakeholder engagement.

Among the key policies introduced is the County Statistics Policy 2024, designed to address the gap in essential county statistics that will inform planning and development decisions.

In addition to the County Statistics Policy, the department unveiled several other significant policies: the County Monitoring and Evaluation Policy 2024, the County Risk Management Framework Policy 2024, and the West Pokot County Emergency Fund Bill 2024. These policies aim to improve various aspects of governance and resource management within the county.

Governor Kachapin expressed his enthusiasm for the new policies, stating, "It is good that we are developing these policies to help us work better and engage our stakeholders. Everything that we do must be based on data across all sectors."

CEC Ruto highlighted the significance of the County Statistics Policy 2024, noting that it will enable the government to allocate resources in line with the current available data. He elaborated on the benefits, noting that it will facilitate engagement with the national government to enhance various sectors.

Ruto also acknowledged the challenges faced in data collection and centralization.

“We are still facing a statistics challenge due to the lack of a centralized data point," he noted.

However, he expressed optimism that the new policies would enable evidence-based decision-making and allow for the full utilization of the county's GIS lab by populating it with accurate and comprehensive data.

With technical support from UNICEF, the policies were adopted by the cabinet today.