GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 576

the following activities:- (a) The board is in the process of staffing the offices in the office of the county attorney after the passing of the Office of the County Attorney Act, 2020 by the National Assembly. (b) The board has prepared a comprehensive report to create offices in the county executive with a specific focus on the office of the Governor. The same has been submitted to the CECM in charge of County Public Service for onward conveyance to the County Assembly for approval. 2. Appointments of Employees This is one of the functions of the Board according to section 59, 1 (b) of the County Governments Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board has carried out the following activities:- 2.1 Appointments of New Employees The Board has appointed the following new employees as at 31st December, 2022. 2.2.1.1 Recruitment of Staff as Requested by Departments S/No. Designation Male Female Total 1 Ward Admin, Central Sakwa 1 1 2 Ass. Fire Officer 1 1 3 APHO 6 1 7 4 Pharm Tech 1 5 6 5 Rcos 1 2 3 6 KRCHN 3 7 10 7 Pharm Tech 2 2 8 SCMO 1 1 9 MLT 1 1 2 10 Ass. Hosp. Chef 1 1 2 11 CHA 1 1 12 APHO 3 3 13 Nutritionist 2 2 14 Quality Assurance Manager 1 1 15 Marketing Manager 1 1 16 Laboratory Technologist 1 1 17 Operations Manager 1 1 18 Assistant Director, Environment 1 1 19 Assistant Director, Climate Change 1 1 20 Director, Sports 1 1 21 Fire Officers 7 1 8 22 Clerical Officers 1 2 3 23 Legal Officer 1 1 24 Office Messenger 1 1 25 Architect 1 1 26 Quantity Surveyor 1 1 27 Medical Specialist, Physician 1 1 28 Director Ict 1 1 29 ICT Officer III 1 1 30 Director, Agriculture 1 1 31 Assistant Director, Admininstration 1 1 32 Administrative Officer 1 1 33 Agricultural Officer 4 6 10 34 Assistant Livestock Production Officer 2 2 35 Animal Health Assistant 1 0 1 S/No. Designation Male Female Total Critical Care Nurse 1 1 47 37 84 2.2 Appointments of Employees Paid by Development Partners 2.2.1 CIHEB Entrench Program The Board has appointed the following employees paid by CIHEB KENYA ENTRENCH PROGRAM: Cadre Male Female Total 1 Clinical Officers 4 7 11 2 HRIOS 2 2 4 3 HTS Counselors 3 8 11 4 Pharm Tech 1 1 5 HTS Lead 1 1 2 6 Adherence Counselors 1 3 4 TOTAL 11 22 33 2.2.2 TUKICHEKI PROGRAM S/No. Cadre Male Female Total 1 Program Manager 1 0 1 2 Program Accountant 1 0 1 3 Administration Officer/HR Officer 1 0 1 4 Driver III 1 0 1 5 Program Officer, Medical Laboratory Services 1 0 1 6 Health Records and Information Officer 0 1 1 7 Clinical Officer 0 1 1 8 Registered Nurse III (KRCHN) 0 1 1 9 Pharmaceautical Technologist III 1 0 1 10 Adherence Counsellor 1 1 2 11 HTS Counselor 1 1 TOTAL 7 5 12 3. Promotion of Employees The Board has promoted the following employees number of employees per department during the period under review:- No. Department Approved Pended Declined Suit. Interview Total 1 Health Services 170 163 20 61 414 2 Public Service Management and Administration 22 36 59 0 117 3 Finance and Economic Planning 68 50 27 1 146 4 Agriculture, Livestock, Veterinary and Fisheries Devp. 20 22 7 13 62 5 Trade, Tourism And Co-operative Development 2 3 6 0 11 6 Environment and Disaster Management 9 14 5 0 28 7 Water and Energy 4 7 2 5 18 8 Lands and Physical Planning 6 8 0 0 14 9 Education, Sports, Culture, Gender and 8 11 1 0 20 194 194 No. Department Approved Pended Declined Suit. Interview Total Youth Affairs 10 Public Works, Roads and Transport 3 8 10 2 23 11 CPSB Secretariat 4 2 0 0 6 12 ICT 0 2 0 0 2 13 Special Requests 0 4 0 0 4 TOTAL 316 330 137 82 865 4. Data Analysis of Employees Recruited during the Period Under Review: 4.1 Distribution of Recruited Employees by Gender: S/No. Recruitment Male Female Total 1 County Executive 47 37 84 4 Partner Staff 18 27 45 TOTAL 65(51.2) 64(48.8) 129(100%) Distribution of Staff by Gender Gender Percentage Female 50 Male 50 4.2 Distribution of Staff Recruited by Ethnicity Ethnicity Percentage Luo 65 Suba 20 Kuria 10 Kisii 2 Luhya 2 Kikuyu 1 4.3 Distribution by Sub-County Sub-county Rongo 15 Awendo 17 Suna 25 Suna 17 Uriri 17 Nyatike 17 Kuria 9 Kuria 5 Other 7 Table 3: Distribution by Sub-County of Origin 4.4 Disability Mainstreaming In as much as the board wished to consider eligible People Living with Disability (PLWD) for appointments, it did not manage the minimum constitutional threshold of 5% since a big number did not meet the required minimum qualifications. The board shall endeavor to entrench affirmative action measures to take care of such in the future. 5. Exercising of Disciplinary Control This is one of the functions of the Board according to section 59 (1) (c) of the County Governments Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board has handled seven disciplinary cases which are at different stages of conclusion as at 31st December, 2022. 6. Preparation of Regular Reports to the County Assembly on the Execution of Functions of the Board This is one of the functions of the Board according to section 59 (1) (d) of the County Governments Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board has prepared and submitted the following reports to the County Assembly:- Report to assembly on creation of offices within the office of the county attorney. 7. Monitoring and Evaluation of Compliance with National Values and Principles Referred to in Articles 10 and 232 of CoK, 2010 In Migori County Government This is one of the functions of the Board according to section 59 (1) (f) of the County Governments Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board has monitored and evaluated Compliance with National Values and Principles of Public Service as follows: (a) Preparation of evaluation tool for monitoring compliance with values and principles referred to in Articles 10 and 232 of CoK 2010. (b) Physical visit to all departments to evaluate the compliance level with values and principles referred to in Articles 10 and 232 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. (c) Preparation and submission of the Annual Report to Migori County Assembly on the extent to which the values and principles referred to in Articles 10 and 232 are complied with in Migori County Public Service. (d) Gazettement of Annual Report in the Kenya Gazette on the extent which values and principles referred to into Articles 10 and 232 are complied with in Migori County Public service. 8. Advise Migori County Government on Human Resource Management and Development. This is one of the functions of the Board according to section 59 (1) (h) of the County Government Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board did the following: (a) Preparation of advisory on the matter of engagement of interns, attaches, casuals and staff on short term contracts. (b) Preparation of draft MCPSB Regulations, 2020 on the implementation of section 74 of the county government act, 2012 to streamline the engagement of interns, attaches, casuals and staff on short term contracts. (c) Collection of data from the departments towards the preparation of the employment equity plan. 9. Development of Coherent Integrated Human Resource Planning and Budgeting This is one of the functions of the Board according to section 59 (1) (g) of the County Governments Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board has carried out the following activities: (a) Development of draft Human Resource Policy and Procedures Manual. (b) Sensitization of chief officers on their role as accounting officers in the management of human resource in the various departments. 10. Recommendations to SRC on Remuneration, Pensions and Gratuities for Migori County Employees This is one of the functions of the Board according to section 59, 1 (h) of the County Governments Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board has carried out the following activities: (a) The Board wrote a response to SRC on the intention to scrap off or review allowances paid to staff in the county executive. (b) Written submission to SRC on salary review for staff in the county executive for the period 2022/2025. 11. Challenges Encountered by the Board in the Execution of its Mandate 1. Legal challenges The Board continues to face a lot of legal hurdles in the process of execution of its duties, the board is currently enjoined in sixteen different matters at the Employment and Labor Relations Court and the Public Service Commission majorly by staff aggrieved by its decisions. 2. Financial Challenges (a) Lack of enough budgetary allocation. (b) Delays in disbursement from treasury. 20th January, 2023 THE KENYA GAZETTE 3. Human Resource Challenge (a) Inadequate personnel budget. (b) Lack of skilled manpower in some professions. 4. Physical Resource Challenges (a) Insufficient office space. (b) Insufficient utility vehicles. EVALUATION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF VALUES AND PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE The functions of Migori County Public Service Board are as enshrined in section 59 of the County Governments Act, 2012. The Public service Board is mandated under section 59 (1) (f) of the County Governments Act, 2012 to evaluate and report to the Migori County Assembly on the extent to which the values and principles referred to in Articles 10 and 232 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 are complied with in the Migori County Public Service. The evaluation covers county public service with the exception of the county assembly that has an oversight role. The evaluation for the year 2022 clustered the values and principles into ten thematic areas, designed indicators for each and identified relevant data sources. The data and other information specific to departments were obtained through the evaluation tools while other relevant information were obtained from oversight institutions, reports by the office of the controller of budget and information from the department of finance and economic planning. Findings show significant levels of compliance: Good governance, transparency and accountability were assessed on diverse dimensions, namely: the existence of reviewed organisation structures and succession management, adoption of e-procurement, performance management and anticorruption measures. On each dimension, the departments had made significant efforts but there is a need for the county executive committee to adopt and approve a staff establishment for the whole county public service. On review of organizational structures, the Board recommends that the county executive committee considers and approves a staff establishment for the whole county in order to streamline staffing levels in all departments. On accountability, the Board recommends that all staff be put on the performance management framework commencing January 2023 and copies of the evaluated appraisal forms be filed in the personal files at the department and central registry. The departments are directed to copy the Board on all correspondences of disciplinary nature. On performance management and corruption control measures, the Board hereby recommends that the performance management framework be implemented and cascaded to all staff and that all departments liaise with EACC to conduct the corruption perception survey at the commencement of the new calendar year. Professionalism and ethics in the public service were evaluated on the basis of four indicators namely: availability of policy documents on ethics at the disposal of the accounting officers, training for professionalism, membership to professional bodies and declaration of income, assets and liabilities. All these indicators recorded an average level of compliance with declaration of income, assets and liabilities reporting a compliance level of almost 100 percent. Provision for diversity was assessed by indicators that exclusively focused on the staff who were deployed in the various departments. Accordingly, the four indicators that were used were: ethnic representation, gender representation and disability mainstreaming. The representation in the public service of the various ethnic communities appears relatively proportional to the county population. The representation by gender meets the required threshold. However, the interpretation of these findings should be tempered by the census of all staff in county payroll. The Board shall prepare and implement an employment equity plan to deal with any inequalities that may be existing. Fair competition and merit in appointments and promotion were assessed on the basis of three indicators namely: fair competition and merit, advertisement of job vacancies and representation in appointments. All the indicators revealed a high level of compliance since there are already clear guidelines on all matters employment and promotion. The Board will explore more means of advertising of vacancies to increase the reach to a wider population. On promotions, the Board recommends that departmental chief officers commence the performance appraisal which can be used as a basis of merit. Efficiency, effectiveness and economic use of resources was assessed on the basis of several dimensions chief among them alignment of budget with planning. All the departmental budgets were aligned with the county integrated development plan 2018-2022. On the indicator of budget absorption, the departments did well on the recurrent side but performed dismally on the development side, only three departments met the threshold of 100 percent. Another indicator under this area was the allocative budget efficiency and utilization. Majority of the departments failed to meet the recommended ratios for both recurrent to development expenditure and personnel emoluments to operations and maintenance. This can be attributed to several dynamics mainly the lack of proper disaggregation of staff data per department in the payroll and also the nature of some departments which were leaning on both extremes of the recurrent/development expenditure continuum. The Board hereby recommends that the department of finance and economic planning puts in place strategies to lead the county towards adherence to these key guidelines. Sustainable development was assessed on the dimension of pending bills as a percentage of the allocated budget. It was noted that all departments had pending bills which hampered the planning process for the subsequent years. It was also noted that most departments were not aware to what extent suppliers had been paid at the close of the financial year. The Board hereby recommends that the departments be furnished with regular printouts of IFMIS by-products on payments made to suppliers. The Board further recommends that the directorate of procurement should come up with strategies on how to mitigate the delays occasioned by long procurement processes. Responsive, prompt, impartial and equitable service. This principle was assessed on the basis of five proxy indicators namely: automation of services, existence of service charters, customer care desks, suggestion boxes and complaint registers. The departments faired averagely on these indicators though there were only three departments with service charters well displayed, most department were yet to display their service charters. The departments are yet to fully take advantage of the recent technological advancements. The overall conclusion on this thematic area is that there is a lot of room for improvement since it is a quick win that requires minimal to zero budget to actualize. The Board hereby recommends that accounting officers print and display service charters at all points of service delivery. The Board further recommends that all departments carry out customer satisfaction survey and report on the same to the Board periodically. Participation in policymaking and implementation was assessed on the basis of two indicators - public participation policy guidelines and stakeholder fora. The study reveals that only the department of public service management had a policy on public participation. The number of fora was relatively low which can be attributed to the covid-19 pandemic and the lack of proper record keeping as far as the attendance to the same is concerned. The Board hereby recommends that the other departments follow suit in domesticating the policy in order to meet the constitutional requirements. On the aspect of the number of fora, the departments should endeavor to prepare back to office reports for accountability for funds used to conduct the same. Upholding of human rights in the public service was assessed based on the information obtained from the department and public offices. To this extent, the evaluation concluded that compliance with the principle was fairly good though there is need for future evaluations to source data from oversight bodies. Even though there are no reported cases of human rights violations in the departments, the Board recommends that the departments source for and display posters to create awareness on human rights. The Board shall endeavor to obtain information on the same from The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. Devolution and sharing of power was assessed on the basis of participation of the departments in joint committees with bodies outside the county government, percentage of officers deployed to sub counties and number of community projects completed in the period under review. This study reveals that all the departments had participated in joint ventures with partners of common interests which is an effort that should be applauded. The health and education departments were leading with the percentage of staff devolved to sub 196 196 counties due to the nature of services they offer. Other departments should follow suit to strengthen devolution. On the number of projects completed, there is need to carry out a thorough monitoring and evaluation to ascertain the concentration of projects in sub counties and wards. It was noted that the departments have done a commendable job as far as seeking partnerships and adhering to donor requirements is concerned. The Board recommends that departments should double the efforts in order to boost the financial and technical resources that are already at the county’s disposal. PROPOSED INTERVENTIONS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL VALUES AND PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE In order to ensure that the values and principles evaluated in this report are implemented effectively, the Board commits to undertake the following: 1. Organize quarterly sensitization meetings with CECMs and chief officers on implementation of values in the public service. 2. Liaise with stakeholders like the county assembly to seek meaningful partnerships towards the entrenchment of the values in the public service. 3. Create avenues for the general public to engage the board and give feedback on the implementation of the values and principles. 4. Organize training for board members and staff by the public service commission in order to build the capacity of the board to perform their role with regard to the implementation of values and principles. 5. Develop a reward and sanctions policy geared towards rewarding officers who promote the values and sanctioning those that contravene the same. 6. Publish and distribute handbooks on values and principles to all staff to increase awareness. 7. Prepare an annual work plan outlining all activities to be carried out towards the implementation of the values and budgeting for the same. 8. The board to prepare a policy on implementation of national values and principles in the public service to guide the process of doing the evaluations in the future. 9. Carry out quarterly visits to the departments to ascertain the levels of compliance. 10. Liaise with other stakeholders to seek meaningful partnerships towards the implementation of the values in the county public service. 11. Share the recommendations of this report with the departments for quality improvement purposes. 12. Carry out capacity building sessions for staff on values and principles in the county public service. 13. Organize sensitization workshops for staff at all levels on the importance of the values and principles of governance. 14. Publish and distribute handbooks and policy guidelines on the values and principles of governance. 15. Monitor and ensure action is taken on all public officers who violate the values and principles of governance. JUDITH A. OKINDA, MR/4281478 Ag. Secretary/CEO, County Public Service Board.