Put relevant governance instruments, EACC report recommends to Kisumu County Assembly.
By Dickson Odhiambo
October 4, 2018
Put relevant
governance instruments, EACC report recommends to Kisumu County Assembly.
A REPORT by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission on
Corruption Risk Assessment {CRA} has recommended that the County Assembly of
Kisumu should ensure that relevant governance instruments are developed and
operationalized.
The report has further recommended that procedure manuals
and guidelines in all operational areas also be developed and operationalized.
The report recommends that this can be done by adopting and
customizing relevant applicable laws, regulations and procedure manuals with
the National Government and other County Assemblies.
“At the same time of the assessment, the County Assembly of
Kisumu was in the process of developing governance instruments and procedure
manuals to guide operations of the Assembly in areas such as Committee
Services, Internal Audit, Financial Management, Supply Chain Management,
Records Management, Transport Services and Information Communication Technology
among others,” the report says.
It adds that operating without requisite policies, procedure
manuals and guidelines is a weakness that may lead to discretion,
irregularities in the performance of various functions of the County Assembly
of Kisumu.
On the issue of Service Charter of the County Assembly of
Kisumu, the report says at the time of the Assessment, the county assembly had
not developed and operationalized a service Charter on all the services
offered.
“The report therefore recommends that the Speaker and the
Clerk of the County Assembly of Kisumu should ensure that an Assembly
comprehensive service charter is developed and strategically displayed at
appropriate service points. The Service Charter should provide information on
the service offered, processes, procedures, requirement, time frames and costs
of the service,” It adds.
On the issue of induction of staff, the report has
recommended that the newly recruited staff of the county Assembly be inducted
on their roles and responsibilities, adding that at the time of the Assessment
the team observed that staff at the County Assembly had not been inducted on
their roles, responsibilities and the functions of the Assembly.
“For instance, the County Assembly Public Service Board and
the Committee Clerks had not been inducted on their roles, functions and
responsibilities,” the report further says.
It recommends that the Speaker and the Clerk of the County
Assembly of Kisumu should ensure the development and implementation of an
induction program to cater for the existing staff on the functions of the
Assembly their roles and responsibilities, adding that newly recruited staff
should be inducted within three months after appointment.
On staff deployment, the report says at the time of this
assessment, the County Assembly of Kisumu had redeployed staff without
consideration of relevant academic and professional qualifications and
experience despite the County Assembly Human Resource Manual 2015, B21 provides
the guideline for re-deployment of staff in County Assembly.
The report therefore recommends that the Speaker and the
Clerk should ensure that all re-designations are done in accordance with
Section B, Regulation 21 of the County Assembly Human Resource Manual 2015.
Releasing the report on Corruption Risk Assessment into the
systems, policies, procedures and practices of Kisumu County Assembly and
Executive in Kisumu, EACC Vice Chairperson Commissioner Sophia Lepuchirit
said there is need by the two levels at the County Government of Kisumu to
fully implement the recommendations of the report.
She says the Commission is thankful to Kisumu Governor Prof.
Anyang Nyong’o for inviting the commission to undertake the Assessment on the
System Review.
The Commissioner adds that the report has come at an
opportune time for Kisumu County because it can form one of the guiding
principles in the transition.
“The report is the product of in depth assessment, policies,
systems, procedures and practices of the work of the County Assembly and the
Executive in Kisumu County,” She says.
She adds that some of the notable weaknesses observed during
the Assessment and can be rectified includes
flouting of the procurement laws, financial management flaws, inaccurate
financial records, irregularities in financial practices, un surrendered
impresst and a little bit of conflict of interest.
Kisumu County Assembly Speaker Onyango Oloo who attended the
launch of the report has assured the EACC that the Assembly will try and
implement the report.
Onyango says the Assembly will study the report and form a
committee on the implementation of the report, adding that the Assembly will
again ask the Governor to invite the EACC again to check the implementation of
the report.
He says the Assembly aspires to be a corruption-free zone
where the public are also served efficiently and effectively.
“As an Assembly, I am assuring that we are taking the
recommendations of this report seriously and we have to implement it as an
Assembly,” Speaker Oloo says.
The Corruption Risk Assessment {CRA} on both Kisumu County
Executive and County Assembly was conducted by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption
Commission between March 1 and 16 this year following an invitation by Kisumu
Governor Prof Anyang Nyong’o to undertake a corruption Risk Assessement of the
County Government of Kisumu.
The Purpose of the Assessment was to identify opportunities
and avenues for corrupt practices in the systems, policies, procedures and
practices of work of the Kisumu County Executive and to make recommendations on
how to seal the identified loopholes.
This was achieved through reviewing of work systems and
procedures to identify systemic weaknesses, loopholes and inefficiencies that
may lead to corrupt practices.
The report covers findings in the broad categories of
operating environment, financial management, Internal Audit, Supply Chain
Management, Human Resource Management, Education Services, Project Management,
Energy, Agricultural Services, land and physical planning, ICT, General
administration and records management.
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