On September 17 Strathmore University, in conjunction wtih the Hills Program on Governance of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, celebrated the inauguration of the Strathmore Governance Center. Special Guest at the inauguration ceremonies was the Government of Kenya’s Minister for Medical Services, Prof Anyang Nyongo.

The Strathmore Governance Center seeks to promote good governance in the public, private and civic

sectors in East Africa by carrying out research and analysis on governance issues, facilitating dialogue within and across those sectors, and identifying educational needs and developing appropriate tools and programmes to meet those needs. One of the objectives of SGC is to start a Masters degree in Governance and Ethics.

SGC is part of Hills Program on Governance which was founded by former US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Roderick Hills. The Hills Program brings together Governance Centers at universities in China, South Korea, the Philippines, Argentina, Indonesia and Mexico. The Strathmore Goverance Center is the first such center in Africa for the Hills Program.

The Center hit the ground running with a health care governance workshop which the minister opened at the launch ceremony. The theme of the workshop was “Risk Management in the Domestic Supply Chain for Health Commodities”.  In his keynote address, Minister Nyongo decried the present management practices in government especially on procurement. He said tendering is an archaic way of doing procurement. “Tendering relies on suppliers determining the price of commodities. For specialized equipment like CT scanners, our purchasing officers should be researching the prices on the internet and then liaising with manufacturers instead of placing expensive tender announcements in the press,” the Minister said.

He added that it is important for Strathmore to be involved in governance issues as the University is spearheading the utilisation of information and communication technology in management. Citing the example of medicines storage and distribution, the Minister said, ”The cost savings made when we purchase medical consumables to last five years are lost when storage costs are considered.  ICTs can help make the supply chain more efficient.”

Also speaking at the launch, the President of the Hills Program on Governance, Dr. Gerald Hyman, spoke of the critical importance of good governance to economic development. Another speaker at the launch, Kristin Penn, who is a Senior Director at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in Washington, DC, outlined how MCC works. MCC funding supported the Strathmore workshop on Governance in the Health Sector.

MCC is a United States corporation designed to partner and work with some of the poorest countries in the world. It was established in 2004. It is based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom and investments in people.

Links:

CSIS Annoucement about Strathmore Governance Center: http://www.csis.org/index.php?option=com_csis_progj&task=view&id=1363
Strathmore Governance Centre: http://www.strathmore.edu/governance/index.html
Hills Program on Governance: http://www.csis.org/hills/

Center for Strategic and International Studies: http://www.csis.org/index.php

Millennium Challenge Corporation: www.mcc.gov

To see a photo gallery of the launch, click here.