Provincial Administration -here, but not to stay

Written by Apollo Kamau
Wednesday, 25 August 2010 11:47


The Provincial Administration system of government will not be scrapped, even after the new Constitution takes effect.


According to analysts, Kenya's old system of government will be absorbed into the county governments, to represent national government interests at the local level .


Kenya's big eyed and once feared Provincial Administration is one of the key organs of the government that will be tamed by the new constitutional dispensations, and will simultaneously be recognized for the first time by the law.


When the country converges at Uhuru Park on Friday to witness the promulgation of the new law, it will be a key moment for the Provincial Administration, which will no longer be able to act on the whims of the executive, by creating and abolishing offices at will.


Kenya's most abused system of government, especially during former President Moi's regime, will now be restructured to fit in a devolution system of government, where it will keep an administrative eye on matters of the national government at the county level, including security.


The new freer Kenya that is expected to reap the benefits of self-governance through the county revolution, will also mark the end of snoopy Chiefs and District Officers.


Kenyans will not however feel the effect of the yet to be restructured Provincial Administration until after the 2012 general elections, when the 47 counties takes over regional affairs, and upon which the provincial administration will be scrapped.


Despite the fact that the new Constitution provides a transition period of five years for phasing out the Provincial Administration, the crucial mandate of the central government of keeping a watchful eye at the grassroots cannot be ignored.


A key component of the Provincial Administration that will also be taken away is the Provincial Administration Police, who will be integrated into the regular force under one head, who is the Inspector General of the police.


Perhaps the big question many will be asking, is how a system of government that has enjoyed monopoly for more than 30 years, will fit into a liberal structure of government, especially considering its record.