By Caroline Rwenji
NAIROBI, KENYA: The power wrangles between governors and county commissioners have been put to rest with governors being pronounced superior. During functions, the governor will speak last while the county commissioner can relay the president’s speech.
This was said by outgoing Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of Public Service, Francis Kimemia. Another round of civic education, Kimemia said, should be launched to address issues of pecking order, which keep arising.
“People are fighting over authority yet functions are well defined in the Constitution,” he said while urging all engaging in power wrangles to cooperate and work together.
“Focus will soon change from who-is-who to service delivery when Kenyans start demanding services,” he observed. Kimemia, who has been nominated for Secretary to the Cabinet post, said this while being vetted by the committee on Administration and National Security.
Governors had last month rejected the retention of county commissioners across the country, citing frustrations of the county government by the central government.
The governors claimed that their roles conflicted with those of county commissioners and disconnect would affect the counties.
The governor, Kimemia said, has been popularly appointed by the people of the county while the county commissioner represents the national government and carries out national functions. While answering questions from the panel, Kimemia further noted that there are many policy documents that have been forwarded but are yet to be implemented.
He called for the implementation of the service charter, which he said will greatly benefit Kenyans in all regions. The service charter, he said, will assist a governor to know key areas in their counties that need to be worked on with priority to the most needed services.
“The service charter will help governors and county commissioners identify which services have not been rendered and which ones should be implemented first,” he stated.
When asked about the security and police officers, he noted that the morale of police officers is quite low even with the reforms that have been implemented. He noted that Kenya, so far, has invested poorly in security as compared to other countries in Africa.
He however pointed out that Parliament can allocate resources to the police force to aid in the purchase of basic equipment and protective gear.
“Our security officers lack basic equipment, protective gear and transport. They go to a battlefront with thugs who are armed more than the police officers,” he noted.
The police force, he pointed out, should be provided with ample transport in each county, specialised equipment, high gun power in order to tackle armed thugs.
