Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has assured Kenyans that the government is going to operationalise several administrative units that have been pending for about 10 years during this financial year.
Speaking during the Jukwaa la Usalama programme in Bomet County, Murkomen regretted that some administrative units that were gazetted in 2016-2017 are yet to be activated.
The Cabinet Secretary attributed the delay to operationalising the administrative units to budgetary gaps, adding that some chiefs who were hired a couple few years ago are yet to receive their salary because of these challenges.
“Part of the reason why across the country some of the administrative units that were gazetted in 2016-2017 are still pending up to now is (because of) budgetary allocations,” CS Murkomen said.
“And you will see even in this meeting, there are chiefs who were hired two years ago and are yet to get a salary because of budget allocations. The more you subdivide a location, the more money you need to run the new location, so some of them have been delayed,” he said.
However, he said that his Ministry is going to start the process of operationalising these administrative units from next week on a first-in, first-out basis.
“We have a little amount of money this financial year and we will try to operationalise based on a first-in, first-out approach so that we can sort out that issue,” he stated.
He said that the issue of pending administrative units has been raised across almost all the counties they have visited so far in the Jukwaa la Usalama programme.
Jukwaa la Usalama is an initiative that promotes engagement between government officers and members of the public at the grassroots.
At the same time, CS Murkomen said that the government has also started the process of modernising police stations and building offices for administrative areas, noting that some of the buildings were built during the colonial era.
Citing the Bomet County Commissioner’s Office, Murkomen said that there was a need to give police officers and administrative ample environment for them to discharge their duties properly.
“We have infrastructural challenges here of our offices for administrative officers, but it is not acute, it is manageable,” he said.
“We want to construct more presentable county offices for administrators, and we believe that process will commence soon and be completed before the end of the financial year. The aim is to provide proper facilities that will help our officers carry out their responsibilities effectively. This approach will also be replicated in police stations,” he added.
He went on to say: “We also want to build well-equipped police stations with proper offices, decent holding cells, and secure storage for materials, evidence, and sensitive information. We are committed to ensuring that our officers work in a conducive and dignified environment.”
Meanwhile, Murkomen took the opportunity to assess ongoing development projects tied to President William Ruto’s administration, including roads and stadiums in Kericho and Bomet counties.
“I’m pleased to note that several government projects promised by the President are underway. There are about six or seven markets currently at the initial stages of construction, and we believe they will be completed within this financial year,” said Murkomen.
He further noted that the Affordable Housing Project in Bomet County is about 97% complete, with President Ruto expected to officiate the handover of the 200 units in the coming weeks.
On infrastructure, Murkomen said that all the roads promised in the region are in the early stages of implementation. “I’m happy to report that the construction of the major 100-kilometre road is ongoing,” he said.
“I saw that contractors are now back on site, thanks to the recent securitisation of the Roads Maintenance Levy. The Ministry of Roads has paid all the contractors, and work has resumed across all the sites,” he added.
