COUNTY TRANSITION AT RISK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) December 7, 2011 -- NAIROBI, Dec. 6, 2011—The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA) under aegis of the Nairobi County Citizens Forum and likeminded Civil Society Organisations express concern on the actions of certain Ministries aimed at directly contradicting and undermining devolution as stipulated by the Constitution of Kenya.

We are disturbed that some ministries including the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration & Internal Security under the Office of the President; The Ministry of Health; the Teachers Service Commission (TSC); have gone ahead and implemented changes at the county level that are likely to undermine the position of County Governments. These include:

1. The posting of County Commissioners by the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration & Internal Security to the County. We take this as a veiled attempt to extend the life of the Provincial Administration, whose functions have now been taken over by the new County Governments. More fundamentally, the posting of the County Commissioners is an attempt by the Office of the President to prevent government affairs from the scrutiny that accompanies a sound functional assignment process.

2. Posting of commissioners to county level in the absence of a County Education policy by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). This action seeks to avoid important questions such as: Under whose jurisdiction will district education boards’ fall? Will counties take over council schools? Who will appoint school Board of Governors (BOG’s) and what powers will School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parents Teachers Associations (PTA’s) have? The Taskforce on Education report is still pending and should be released for stakeholder validation and county policy development on education.

3. Failure by the Ministry of Lands to inventorise and digitise lands records despite many pledges. Little has been accomplished to aid citizens in obtaining vital information on land records. This threatens to undermine land reforms in this country and pass on systemic land disputes and failures to County governments.

4. After a long delay, there is now there is now a harmonised Public Finance Management (PFM) bill and we are undertaking a review of the same to assess the extent to which it complies with the CK2010 and mirrors the aspirations and needs of Kenya in public finance management.

We note that a transparent transition process will uncover all the hidden deals and secrets and will root out the entrenched masters of impunity who have held our country captive since independence.

In view of the above, we demand that:
1. The Attorney General urgently publishes the Transition bill;

2. Parliament ensures the establishment of a transparent, professional and inclusive transition process which will allow for: Professional and well informed Sectoral policy which will cater for phased transfer and asymmetrical devolution, Inventory and audit of government assets, liabilities held by Local Authorities, Regional Development Authorities and line Ministries, A clear plan of rationalisation of existing service delivery bodies, Local Authorities, Regional Development Authorities and line ministries; A transparent and humane staff redeployment process to ensure staff are best matched to function, Effective stakeholder input into the process especially by the public.
3. The Ministry of Lands enforces the freeze on all public land sales and publishes public land inventories of all Counties to inform the land transition process.
4. Cabinet Sub-Committee on devolution makes transparent its work through regular public stakeholder dialogue and regular public reporting on the status of implementation of County Governments.

5. All concerned institutions ensure a harmonious working relationship between ministries and the constitutional commissions especially the Commission on Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) which is constitutionally mandated to oversee the implementation process.

Notes to Editors: Nairobi County Citizens Forum

The Nairobi County Citizens Forum is a non-partisan coalition of groups and individuals recognizing the need for reforms to enrich and expand good governance, accountability & transparency in Kenya at the national and county level. The forum is in its formative stages and we hope to formally launch the initiative in the first quarter of 2012. In addition to advocacy, we seek to provide education on county transition processes, electoral reform and the policy solutions necessary to realize it. We are working towards a vibrant democracy with accessibility for the average person, a competitive political environment, and pluralism in policy and decision making. For more information please visit http://www.tisa.or.ke or e-mail info@tisa.or.ke

ACTS     bills     counties     devolution     kenya     ministries     transition