Village elders will start receiving their monthly stipends from the government tomorrow, Interior Permanent Secretary (PS) Raymond Omollo announced on Tuesday.
Speaking during the opening of the induction training for 530 newly appointed Deputy County Commissioners, PS Omollo said the stipends will support the work of the new DCCs.
“For the first time in the country, through the support of the President, beginning tomorrow, we will have stipends for our village elders so that they can effectively support the work you do across the country,” said PS Omollo.
While reading the budget statement for the incoming financial year, Treasury CS John Mbadi said the state had allocated Sh3.9 billion as stipends for village elders. He explained that the stipend will enhance local administrative capacities and recognise the role played by village elders in addressing security and other societal challenges.
According to the Ministry of Interior, the country has around 110,000 village elders supporting the national government at the grassroots level. For their welfare, the ministry has proposed a plan to pay each a Sh3,000 monthly stipend.
Village elders have for years operated at the lowest level of informal administration, working alongside chiefs and assistant chiefs to resolve disputes, share government information, and support security surveillance within communities.
At the event, which also included DCCs who were promoted recently but had yet to be inducted, the PS said the new DCCs will be taken through their role in coordinating the national government’s agenda and state priority projects, as officers at the core of implementation at the grassroots level.
“This training has been designed to give you a deeper insight into the responsibilities of the office that you hold, the policies and the procedures that guide our work, the laws that define your authority and the values that must shape your conduct as a public servant,” the PS added.
They will also be taken through the standard operational procedures for the incoming National Government Administration Police Unit (NGAPU) ahead of its rollout, to understand the officers’ mandate.
PS Omollo reminded the officers of the expectations of the Kenyan population, a majority of which is young people with access to a wide range of technology.
“The median age is about 19-20 years in this country, so you can begin to imagine the kind of population you are dealing with, and there is a lot of advancement in technology, some of the things we used to do five to six years ago are no longer possible or even if we are to do them, there are better ways of doing them so how do we embrace all these changes and technological advancements for purposes of making our services to the public much more efficient and also acceptable?” he posed.
He added that the country is at a time when citizens want to be more involved in government actions, and called on the DCCs to use their public fora as avenues to listen to the citizenry.
“Citizens expect government officials to be responsive, transparent, innovative and results-oriented. They expect timely delivery of services, prudent management of public resources, respect, fairness and visible development outcomes,” he said.
PS Omollo also called on them to be effective team leaders and work in collaboration with colleagues in other state departments in fulfilment of the government agenda.
“There are other agencies that sit with you at the sub-counties, the various committees that you chair. As the chair, there is a level of inspiration that you must give to the rest of the team; they must be able to look up to you. We want to build or bring back that cadre of administrators so that Kama wewe ni bwana DC, wewe ni bwana DC kamili. That is why we are doing the tooling, reskilling; we are addressing the challenges, including your mobility issues, which have been a thorn in the flesh for many years,” the PS said.
He assured that the mobility challenge will be addressed within the next three months. However, the PS cautioned those with alcoholism and drug addictions to agree to be rehabilitated by the state.
“The face of the government cannot be a drunk DCC in the morning, so we start with you. There is that which you must deal with, and we will support you to help manage it. If it becomes impossible, I think there is room to give people lighter responsibilities. As your PS, I will not superintend over drunk officers,” said Dr Omollo, who also warned the officers against graft and engaging in cartelism.
The DCCs are expected to uphold the constitution and principles of good governance at all times in their decision-making and leadership.
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