Council of Governors (CoG) Human Resources and Social Welfare Committee chaired by H.E. Johnson Sakaja held the induction of County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) in charge of Public Service and Administration from 21st – 23rd February at PrideInn Paradise hotel, Mombasa County.
The induction, which comes after the 2022 general elections that ushered in the 3rd cycle of County Governments in Kenya, was aimed at providing an overview of the public service sector and the policy, legal and regulatory frameworks for service delivery.
Speaking during the official opening ceremony of the workshop, Governor Sakaja echoed the need for County Governments to utilize performance contracting in order to improve service delivery in the Counties.
“The Council in 2018 adopted the performance management contracting framework. I call upon all of you as the Chair of the Human Resource Committee to implement this framework in the next 4 months in order to strengthen service delivery to mwananchi. Let’s all target to be on performance contract by July 1st 2023,” noted H.E. Johnson Sakaja.
The Governor further emphasized that CECMs for public service play a crucial role in the management and development of Human Resources in the County Governments and therefore, are expected to put in place practices, systems, policies, procedures, rules, and regulations that are aligned to building a highly-skilled, agile and responsive public sector workforce.
In this regard, the County ministers are expected to: ensure transformation of public service into a reliable engine for socio-economic development; create the right culture by inculcating values, principles and attitudes in public servants as outlined in Articles 10 and 232 of the Constitution; inculcate a mind-set of citizen-centricity and continuous improvement; leverage on innovation and technology for the transformation of the service; establish measures and mechanisms of tapping the enormous potential residing in youth; and address challenges affecting public service delivery among others.
While addressing CECMs, the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Public Service, Gender and Affirmative Action noted that the Ministry will continue to initiate and implement various policies and reforms focusing on strengthening human resource management and development practices to make the wider public service more responsive and prompt in the provision of services to the citizens.
“I urge you to customize and implement the public service policies and initiatives where applicable, to strengthen County public service,” added Mr. Amos Gathecha.
The aforementioned initiatives by the Ministry include: implementation of the Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP) geared towards strengthening of the human resource systems in County Governments; providing technical assistance and support to Counties in the development and domestication of human resource development policies; undertaking needs assessment to inform skills and capacity gaps and thereby ensure proper identification and designing of efficient and effective interventions; mobilizing resources from development partners in form of scholarships and other forms training opportunities to build the capacity of both National and County Governments; establishment of the Unified Human Resource (UHR) Information System to ensure that the public service has a single source of human resource/payroll for decision making; and implementation of norms and standards for managing human resources in the public service, among others.
The CECMs Public Service and Administration caucus also held its elections where Mr. Andrew Nakitare CECM Public Service, Busia County was elected as the Chair of the Caucus, deputized by Ms. Peninah Burtuin of Baringo. Dr. Kipngetich from Bomet County was unanimously elected as the Treasurer while Ms. Judy Oluoch from Kisumu the Secretary. The CECMs considered gender and regional balance as well as experience during their consensus election decision for their leadership.