Photo/FILE The draft Devolved Government Bill leaves no room for the entire Provincial Administration system which will signal the end of a powerful machinery that has been the symbol of government in the lives of Kenyans since colonial days.
By PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com AND BERNARD NAMUNANE bnamunane@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, July 12 2011 at 22:30
Posted Tuesday, July 12 2011 at 22:30
District commissioners, district officers, chiefs and assistant chiefs will lose their functions as agents of the central government across the country if a draft Bill on county structures becomes law.
They may be joining provincial commissioners, whose positions are being phased out under the new Constitution.
The draft Devolved Government Bill leaves no room for PCs, DCs, DOs, chiefs and the entire Provincial Administration system presently controlled by the central government.
This will signal the end of a powerful machinery that has been the symbol of government in the lives of Kenyans since colonial days.
Mr Mutakha Kangu, the chairman of the Task Force that drafted six pieces of legislation intended to bring into effect the new 47 counties, told Daily Nation that there was no need to provide for PCs, DCs, DOs in the administrative structure of counties because they never existed in any law in the first place.
Chiefs at the lowest level of the Provincial Administration structure, however, were provided for under the Chiefs Authority Act.
Higher status
“We are providing an administrative structure for counties in line with what is the Constitution. The Provincial Administration is not, and to legislate for it will be tantamount to elevating it to higher status,” Mr Kangu said.
It was up to the Office of the President, under which the Provincial Administration falls, to figure out how to fit in the new dispensation, he said.
“They will need to restructure themselves to fit in the new set-up. However, we will provide for them in the policy paper that the task force is still preparing,” the Moi University law lecturer said.
The taskforce provided a window for the restructuring in a draft Bill on Transition to County Governments. It proposes a Transitional Authority that shall consult with the PSC and relevant ministries to “facilitate the redeployment, transfers and secondment of staff to the national and county governments.”
With the fate of eight PCs, 30 regional commissioners, approximately 210 DCs — all with numerous assistants — and at least 1,000 DOs hanging in the balance, the Office of the President has been quick to issue assurances that nobody will be left jobless.
Provincial Administration and Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojodeh told the Daily Nation that DCs, DOs and chiefs will be absorbed into the devolved system, and that only PCs would be phased out.
“DCs, DOs and Chiefs are there to stay. We are developing a Bill, which will ensure they are re-deployed to the devolved systems. Only the PCs will be phased out,” Mr Ojodeh said.
Mr Ojodeh’s statement betrays the fact that there has been a quiet tussle between the Office of the President and the Ministry of Local Government over management of the devolution process.
He seems to be talking about a different draft from the Devolved Government Bill developed under the docket of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government Musalia Mudavadi.
In the proposals, counties will be headed by elected governors who will be executive heads of the devolved units.
The taskforce also proposes creation of positions of Administrators at the Sub County, Ward and village levels to take over the functions currently undertaken by DCs, DOs and Chiefs including coordinating, managing and supervising the general administrative tasks in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
A grey area is whether these administrators will be appointed by the county governments or whether they will be employees of the central government as has often been suggested by the Office of the President.
Mr Kangu reinforced fears that the days of the administrator as agents of central government at the grassroots could be numbered.
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