Changes in provincial administration

By Cyrus Ombati

Nairobi, Kenya: All District Commissioners’ titles have been changed to Deputy County Commissioner in designations declared by a new law.

Divisional Officers will be referred to as Assistant County Commissioners while those of Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs will remain unchanged.

Internal Security Minister Katoo ole Metito announced the changes on Monday, citing the new National Government Co-ordination Act 2013. He said the positions of County Commissioners will remain untouched but did not mention those of the Provincial Commissioners, an indication they may have been scrapped.

He said they were holding consultations on how they would accommodate the PCs to address concerns on the principle of span of control.

Framework

“The Act provides a framework for co-ordination of the functions of the National Government and anchors the restructured provincial administration in the framework for the purpose of co-ordinating the functions together with those of counties,” he said.

Speaking at a meeting attended by all DCs at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi, the minister directed the administrators to now take co-ordination of Government business seriously and provide leadership on the implementation of State programmes. He said the coming General Election remained a challenge and called for a co-ordinated approach among all stakeholders to have a peaceful exercise.

“Security is a shared responsibility and no single organ of Government should claim sole responsibility,” he said.