By M&M Reporter
The Project Management Institute (PMI) Kenya chapter today launched its first Strategic Plan that aims to influence the planning and management of major capital private and public projects in the country.
The Strategic Plan clarifies and widens the mandate of PMI to include advocacy for the enactment of legislation and education curricula regarding planning and management of large capital projects in the country.
The operationalization of the SP will help the country embrace project management best practice and principles that will help, reduce Project costs and Schedule overruns, and enable organizations do more with less by ensuring accountability throughout the lifetime of a project and connecting the right people to the right projects.
Principal Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Charles Hinga Mwaura said a large majority of public projects in Kenya end up stretching long past the set project periods and budgets due to oversights in the role of competent project management.
“The number of major capital projects that are over budget, late or both, in Kenya is alarming. Cost and time overruns are the major culprits of project abandonment and failure in Kenya but we do not seem to be doing enough to change the tide. Infusing strategic, transparent, accountable and well thought out processes into any project sets it up for success,” said Hinga.
The PS was speaking during the launch of the PMI Strategic Plan, which seeks to, influence the legislation of project management in the laws of Kenya by engaging effectively with other project management stakeholders.
PMI Kenya President Clement Kitetu said his Institute intends to influence the expedition of the enactment of a bill in parliament to establish the legal and regulatory framework for the Project Management profession in Kenya. This will make Project Management a national competence in Kenya.
“The single most important thing should be to help stakeholders understand the “why” behind the project for them to champion and propel it to success. We have found that most times, when stakeholders have a clear understanding of the problem around a project, and are consulted and involved, the cost of the intervention tends to come down tremendously,” said Kitetu.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has made affordable housing as one of the Big Four Agenda of his government. To achieve this noble goal, the Department of Housing intends to facilitate the construction of 1 million housing units.
Last year, audit firm Deloitte raised a red flag over the number of major public and private infrastructure projects that are delayed and lead to cost overruns owing to ineffective management.
The Africa Construction Cost Trends Report highlighted cost and time overruns as playing a significant role in the abandonment of projects and in project failure in Kenya.
“Approximately 48% of projects report a cost overrun and 87% of projects have a time overrun. This is largely attributed to inadequate initial contract periods that do not consider all factors resulting in time delays,” read the report.
Formed in 1969, the Project Management Institute is the leading global organization for project management professionals, with more than 283 chartered Chapters from 207 countries, and a couple of potential chapters. The Kenyan chapter of PMI was registered in Kenya under Section 10 of the Societies Act in 2012 and was chartered by PMI in 2014. With over 350 members, the PMI-Kenya Chapter has grown to become one of the largest chapters in Africa.
