Raila gives governors tips on how to work better

County governments will have to hire qualified staff if they expect to improve efficiency and eradicate political patronage.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga said the current situation, where cronies rather than qualified people are given jobs, is hurting local economies as well as implementation of projects.

“Governors have to pay for their Cabinets to be approved.

"To date, there are counties that are yet to form full Cabinets because of the standoff between governors and MCAs,” he said referring to his home county, Siaya, where bickering between MCAs has thwarted efforts to constitute a Cabinet.

DEVELOPMENT
Mr Odinga, who was giving the keynote address at the Fifth Devolution Conference in Kakamega, said the staffing problem goes beyond mere patronage; he said counties will have to raise their salaries, or improve privileges, to attract the best talent.

“Counties are failing to attract high-calibre, public-spirited personnel because of the existing pay structure. Because of this, policy papers are wanting in some counties and many governors lack quality advisory services,” he said.

Mr Odinga, who has pledged support for devolution, called for an urgent review of counties’ pay structure to attract quality personnel.

But there is a risk that this could lead to higher costs for county administrations, which are already grappling with high wage bills.

FUNDS
In the last five years, counties spent seven out of every 10 shillings, on average, on recurrent expenditure, which includes salaries, allowances, stationery and office tea.

The National Treasury has proposed a Sh314 billion allocation to them for the next year.

“Counties are struggling to compete among themselves and also to prove that they can deliver to resonate with the expectations.

"They should start an audit on the quality of staff they have to get an inventory for hiring and firing,” Kevin Osido, County Governance Watch's executive director, said.

STAFF
Mr Osido argued that counties should adopt policies to hire more local qualified personnel, and only hire for departments that actually need staff.

“One of the issues that discourage people from working in counties is an ethical question. Officials are given budgets but then receive memos to divert the money.

"Counties should also be open to people who want to offer services,” Mr Osido added.

Nevertheless, he argued for joint efforts to help counties raise more revenue, apart from the usual land rates, rents and business licences.

One way to do this is to review and rationalise taxation policies. Counties have very small tax collection bases.

In the tourism sector, for instance, VAT, Catering Levy and Tourism Levy all go to the national government.

Overall, counties have only about a 15 per cent taxation revenue base.

“There is too much confusion in the management of roads, with the national government laying claim to most roads while doing nothing to maintain them,” he added.