Public Sector Governance and Administration Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Public Sector Managers, Policy Officers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-GPS-040

Before you join: Participants should have some workplace exposure to government, public agencies, local government, state-owned entities or publicly funded programmes.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Public institutions are expected to turn political mandates into lawful, affordable and reliable services while remaining accountable to citizens, legislatures, auditors and funding partners. Managers must work through formal authority, budget rules, procurement controls, staff systems and public scrutiny. Weak coordination, unclear decision rights, unmanaged conflicts of interest and poor use of performance evidence can delay services, waste public funds and reduce trust in government.

This course examines the operating foundations of public sector governance and administration. Participants learn to distinguish political direction from administrative responsibility, map institutional roles, develop policy options, manage public resources and apply practical controls to procurement, staffing and service delivery. The programme also covers integrity systems, public participation, risk management, internal control, monitoring and reporting. Participants build the judgement needed to make defensible administrative decisions and explain them clearly to senior officials, oversight bodies and citizens.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with public sector cases, facilitated group analysis, decision simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect ministries, local governments, regulatory authorities, public agencies and donor-funded programmes. Participants leave with a public sector governance diagnostic, policy briefing structure, stakeholder map, risk register, performance scorecard and 90-day administration improvement plan. The course is delivered over five days, from 08:30 to 16:30, in classroom locations in 50+ cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course is suited to professionals who manage public programmes, resources, people or services and need a practical grounding in how government administration works.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply the public value framework to assess mandates, legitimacy and operational capacity
  • Map institutional roles, decision rights and accountability relationships using a governance map
  • Prepare a structured policy briefing using problem analysis, options appraisal and implementation criteria
  • Use PEFA dimensions to identify public financial management control weaknesses
  • Develop procurement controls from specification through contract management and supplier oversight
  • Apply a risk-based internal control approach using the COSO framework
  • Create a results-based performance framework with indicators, baselines, targets and reporting lines
  • Produce a 90-day public administration improvement plan with accountable actions

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make administrative decisions with clearer legal, financial and accountability reasoning
  • Write stronger policy and management briefings for senior public officials
  • Identify control gaps before they become audit findings or service failures
  • Manage stakeholder expectations across political, administrative and citizen interests
  • Build a practical improvement plan for an assigned public service or programme

For your organisation

  • Clearer decision rights and escalation routes across programmes and administrative units
  • Better alignment between policy commitments, budgets, implementation and reporting
  • Fewer procurement and financial control failures through defined approval checkpoints
  • More credible performance reporting for executives, auditors, funders and citizens
  • Stronger integrity safeguards for conflicts of interest, fraud risks and complaints

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain how public mandates, authority and accountability shape administrative decisions.

  • Constitutional mandates, administrative law and delegated authority in public administration
  • Public value framework linking ministerial priorities, legitimacy and operational capacity
  • Distinguishing political direction from administrative accountability and professional advice
  • Principal-agent problems within ministries, agencies, state-owned enterprises and contractors
  • OECD principles of good governance: accountability, transparency, integrity and participation
  • Mapping formal institutions, informal norms and decision rights

Participants can map governance relationships and establish practical accountability arrangements.

  • Institutional mapping of ministries, agencies, local authorities and oversight bodies
  • RACI matrix for assigning responsible, accountable, consulted and informed roles
  • Vertical accountability through legislatures, audit institutions and ministerial reporting
  • Horizontal accountability among finance, procurement, legal and operational functions
  • Stakeholder power-interest grid for citizens, suppliers, unions and development partners
  • Escalation routes for contested decisions, complaints and service failures

Participants can prepare evidence-based policy options and implementation advice.

  • Problem tree analysis separating symptoms, root causes and affected groups
  • Policy cycle stages from agenda setting through evaluation and revision
  • Options appraisal using cost, feasibility, equity, legality and political acceptability
  • Regulatory impact assessment for proposed rules, permits and compliance requirements
  • Cabinet-style briefing structure: issue, evidence, options, recommendation and risks
  • Documenting administrative decisions with reasons, evidence and approval records

Participants can identify key public financial management controls and budget accountability requirements.

  • Budget cycle from strategic planning through appropriation, execution and audit
  • Medium-term expenditure framework linking policy priorities to multiyear resource ceilings
  • Commitment controls preventing expenditure beyond approved budgets and cash limits
  • Segregation of duties across requisition, approval, payment and reconciliation
  • PEFA dimensions for assessing budget credibility, transparency and financial control
  • Variance analysis explaining material differences between budget, commitments and actual expenditure

Participants can apply procurement controls from needs definition through contract close-out.

  • Procurement planning aligned with approved budgets, specifications and delivery schedules
  • Market analysis assessing supplier capacity, competition, pricing and supply risks
  • UNCITRAL Model Law principles: transparency, competition, fairness and equal treatment
  • Evaluation criteria separating mandatory requirements, technical quality and price
  • Contract management plan covering milestones, variations, acceptance and payment
  • Bid protest, conflict-of-interest and debarment controls for procurement integrity

Participants can manage public workforce responsibilities within merit, ethics and performance requirements.

  • Merit-based recruitment controls for fair, documented and competitive selection
  • Job descriptions linking authority, accountabilities, competencies and performance expectations
  • Performance agreements with measurable outputs, behaviours and review schedules
  • Delegation instruments defining limits, conditions, reporting and revocation procedures
  • Disciplinary processes respecting due process, evidence and proportionality
  • Change management using stakeholder analysis, communication plans and transition milestones

Participants can design accountable service delivery arrangements that respond to citizen needs.

  • Service delivery chain from policy intent to frontline citizen experience
  • Service standards defining access, timeliness, quality, cost and redress
  • Citizen journey mapping to identify barriers, handoffs and exclusion risks
  • Public participation methods: consultations, hearings, advisory groups and social audits
  • Grievance redress mechanisms with intake, investigation, response and closure stages
  • Equity analysis disaggregating service access by gender, disability, location and income

Participants can identify integrity threats and design proportionate controls and response actions.

  • COSO framework components: control environment, risk assessment, activities, information and monitoring
  • Fraud risk assessment identifying incentives, opportunities, rationalisation and warning signs
  • Conflict-of-interest declarations, recusal procedures and register maintenance
  • Risk register scoring likelihood, impact, control effectiveness and action ownership
  • Whistleblowing arrangements protecting reporters, evidence handling and investigation independence
  • Internal audit assurance versus management responsibility for first-line controls

Participants can establish results-based reporting that supports management decisions and accountability.

  • Results chain linking inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and intended impact
  • SMART indicators with definitions, data sources, frequency and accountable owners
  • Baseline and target setting using historical performance, capacity and policy commitments
  • Data quality assessment for validity, reliability, timeliness, precision and integrity
  • Balanced scorecard perspectives adapted for public value, service and stewardship
  • Evaluation questions distinguishing relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability

Participants can convert governance findings into a focused, accountable administration improvement plan.

  • Governance diagnostic consolidating mandate, control, service and performance findings
  • Prioritisation matrix ranking actions by impact, urgency, feasibility and ownership
  • 90-day action plan with milestones, resources, dependencies and accountable officers
  • Implementation risk review covering resistance, capacity, funding and legal constraints
  • Management dashboard reporting actions, exceptions, decisions and overdue commitments
  • Personal application commitments for the first thirty days after training

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Public sector governance diagnostic template
  2. Policy options briefing template
  3. Institutional stakeholder and RACI map
  4. Public financial management control checklist
  5. Integrity risk register
  6. 90-day administration improvement plan

Who should attend

  • Public Sector Managers — need to convert mandates into controlled operational delivery
  • Policy Officers — need defensible methods for developing and briefing policy options
  • Programme Managers — need clearer accountability, monitoring and reporting arrangements
  • Local Government Officials — need practical controls for services, budgets and citizen engagement
  • Regulatory and Agency Staff — need to manage delegated authority and oversight obligations
  • Development Programme Personnel — need to align funded programmes with public administration systems

Skills and tools covered

Governance analysisPolicy developmentPublic financial managementProcurement oversightIntegrity risk managementPerformance reporting

Tools and standards

OECD Principles of Good Governance, PEFA Framework, COSO Internal Control Framework, UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish concepts, rules and frameworks, followed by public sector case work drawn from ministries, municipal services, regulatory bodies and funded programmes. Participants analyse governance failures, compare policy options, review budget and procurement controls, and work through accountability scenarios. Group exercises use practical templates for stakeholder mapping, risk assessment and performance reporting. Decision simulations test responses to competing political, operational and citizen demands. Each participant develops an application plan linked to a current responsibility.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have some workplace exposure to government, public agencies, local government, state-owned entities or publicly funded programmes. They should understand their organisation's basic mandate and have experience of routine reporting, budgeting, service delivery, policy support or programme administration. No prior study of public administration, economics, law, accounting or procurement is required. The course does not assume responsibility for approving budgets or policies. Participants from NGOs and development partners are welcome where their work involves government counterparts, public funds or public services.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants need basic workplace familiarity with a public institution, public programme or government counterpart. Prior training in law, public finance, procurement or policy analysis is not required.

Bring a current administrative, service delivery, policy or programme issue that can be used for application planning. Participants do not need to bring confidential documents, budgets or procurement files.

It is designed for managers, officers and advisers working in ministries, agencies, local government, regulators and publicly funded programmes. It also suits NGO and development personnel who work closely with government systems.

A policy course focuses mainly on designing policy, while a public finance course concentrates on budgeting and expenditure. This course connects governance, administration, policy execution, controls, service delivery and accountability.

Participants use the provided templates to map decision rights, assess control gaps, improve reporting and prioritise administrative actions. The 90-day plan gives managers a practical basis for follow-up discussions.

The programme runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group work, simulations and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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