Your jobs are secure, chiefs assured

The Cabinet on Thursday assured chiefs that their jobs were secure and legislation would be made to protect their employment.

According to Mr Kinuthia Wamwangi, the head of the Transition Authority, the transitional clause of the County Governments Act was defective and needed to be fixed before the expiry of Parliament’s term.

Article 138 of the Act gazetted on August 3 says any public officer appointed by the Public Service Commission “shall be deemed to be in the service of the county government on secondment from the national government” after the elections.

This means that officers of the Provincial Administration, including the protesting chiefs, will automatically be part of the county governments.

This would be contrary to the transitional provisions stated in the Constitution.

It would also be contrary to the idea of having distinct institutions at the national and county levels.

“We will recommend the amendment in order to sustain the principle of distinct but inter-dependent governments so that any officers of government working in counties but are not part of the functions to be transferred to county governments will remain in national government service,” said Mr Wamwangi.

He said nobody in the Provincial Administration should worry about their jobs.

The Constitution states that the national government should restructure the Provincial Administration in accordance with devolution by August 2015.

He said all employees of local authorities would automatically transfer to the county governments and asked people not to speculate on the fate of the 33,000 council workers as it was clear and their jobs guaranteed.

Chiefs and assistant chiefs are currently operating under the Chiefs Authority Act. The Act gives them the mandate to ensure law and order are maintained at the grassroots level.

The chiefs’ anxiety comes from the feeling that working under county governments would expose them to political interference and manipulation.

The chiefs have so far staged demonstrations in Meru, Kirinyaga, Kisumu, Kiambu and Nairobi.

They have pegged their hopes on the National Administration and Coordination Bill, which was drafted by officials from the Office of the President early this year.

It is yet to be published despite a few draft copies having been made available to the public in February.

Eight months after it was drafted, the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution has not yet received it.

The draft proposed the central government establish offices at the counties manned by county commissioners.