GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 275

the following departments; 1. Secretariat Headed by the Secretary. 2. An administrative officer and deputy administration officer(2). 3. Finance; this department will be headed by the head of finance and a deputy. 4. Accounts; the department will be headed by an accountant and a deputy. 5. Procurement; this will be a support department to the board and will be headed by head of procurement and a deputy. 6. Human Resources Department ; this will be in charge of all staff and HR related matters; the department will have 1 director and 2 deputy directors, all these staff will operate on the delegated powers by the board. 7. Information Communication Technology; this will be a support department that will support all ICT functions of the board.(4)officers. 8. Record management officers (4) officers 9. Integrity officer(1) 10. Health officer(1) HIV/AIDS unit. 11. Drivers (7). 12. Secretaries (10). 13. Clerical(10). 14. Support Staff(6). 15. Legal clerks. PROGRESS OF ACTIVITIES STAFF AUDIT The board conducted a staff audit for 396 employees of the former local authorities seconded to the county; this audit was conducted in all the six sub counties of Siaya namely; Ukwala, Ugunja, Gem, Alego- Usonga, Rarieda and Bondo. SUITABILITY INTERVIEWS Upon the request of the office of the Governor, the Board conducted suitability interviews for staff that had been engaged or were to be engaged by the county Government before the board was constituted. The board conducted suitability interviews for the following category of staff; • Chief of Staff • Advisors; economic, trade, political • Secretaries • Drivers • Clerks • Assistants • Grounds men • Security detail TRAINING, SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES The board has participated in various trainings, meetings and capacity building sessions. Among notable sessions attended are; • Induction by Public Service commission in Kisumu • Consultation meetings by Transition Authority in Kisumu and Nairobi • Governance workshop organized by Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya, Capital Market Authority and Laptrust in Nairobi • Salary evaluation session by Salary remuneration Commission- Siaya and Mombasa • Training on capacity building by Ministry of Devolution in Nairobi. • Wealth Declaration sensitization by Public Service Commission in Kisumu and Nairobi STAFFING (a) After consultation with Interim County Secretary, Interim head of Human resource and Chief of Staff, the Board advertised the following positions: Chief Officers, Principal finance officer , Head of treasury (Accounts), head of treasury (budget) , Revenue officer, Head of ICT, Head of procurement, Head of HRM, Legal advisor, Director of Governor’s press, Sub- county administrators, Ward administrators, (b) The board conducted short listing, interviews and has concluded the hiring for the following categories of staff; • Principal finance officer • Head of treasury – accounts • Head of treasury – budget • Head of procurement • Head of ICT • County revenue officer • Director governor’s press • Head of Human resource –Position cancelled and re- advertised due to wrong job specification. • Head of legal service - Position cancelled and re-advertised due to wrong indent. • (c) The board advertised the positions of: (i) Head of legal services (ii) Head of internal audit (iii) Head of Human resource (iv) Two deputy head of Human resource (v) Administrative officer of the Board (vi) Deputy administrative officer Short listing is yet to be done (vii) Members of county policing authority- recruitment shelved following advice of Commission on implementation of the Constitution. (viii) The Board released Interim County Secretary Mr. Caleb Ongoma at his own request and at the request His Excellency the Governor of Siaya to Transition. Upon the expiry of the terms of principal finance officer and Head of accounts, the board appointed them to act in those positions up to end of November 2013 to enable proper handing over to newly recruited substantive officers. (ix) The Board has released Interim principal finance officer Mr. Sang and Head of Accounts Mr. Sihuli to Transition Authority and advised them to hand over to the new officers. PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES 1. Interview of Chief Officer Sub- County Administrator Ward Administrator Director of HRM Deputy Director of HRM Head of legal affairs Legal Clerk 2. Induction for all the newly recruited staff. 3. Short listing and interview of the Head of Human resource & deputies, Head of legal affairs, Head of internal Audit, Administrative officer and deputies. 4. Sensitization of Assembly on wealth declaration. 5. Sensitization of Executive on Wealth declaration. 17th January, 2014 THE KENYA GAZETTE 6. Administration of wealth declaration to the Board and staff seconded to the County Government. 7. Meeting with the executive and Assembly (Retreat) to discuss among other things the village units. 8. Absorption of the former Local Authorities, Deployments, promotion and transfers. 9. Preparation of staff establishment of the Board and organogram. 10. Recruitment of staff for the Board. 11. Preparation of staff establishment and rationalization of County Public Service. 12. Participation in developing Human Resource Policy in Siaya County. 13. Recruitment of Health workers. 14. Carrying research in training needs (training needs assessment). 15. Organizing training and capacity building for the County Public Service Board. 16. Development of annual work plan for the County Government staff. 17. Administration of performance management to the staff. 18. Recruitment of other County Government staff. 19. Staff management – promotions, transfers, discipline and deployment of staff in the County Government. 20. Delegation of some duties to; County Secretary, Chief Officers, HRM and other County Government entities. 21. Establishment of new offices and abolition of other offices. 22. Developing organization structure for the County Government Department, Sub County, Ward and Villages. 23. Advising the Governor on various human resource issues. 24. Advice SRC on salaries and grading structures for the County Public Service. Challenges 1. Since inception of the board, there has been no substantive budget allocation for the board. This has derailed the implementation of activities as per the board’s work plan , including publishing and publizing information. 2. Lack of office for the last 3 months; The Executive written to the Board relocate to Bondo, but there is no official communication from Lands office which the Board is expected to occupy. The Board did not resolve to relocate to Bondo but it was a unilateral decision of the Executive. Moving to Bondo will have serious logistic challenges since the Board has no official means of transport, no office equipment and is yet to recruit her staff. 3. Shortage of office furniture, ICT equipment Lack official means of transport. 4. Work load and pressure of work. 5. Lack of Staff for the secretariat. This has affected the functioning of the secretariat let alone the board, and hampered storage, production of essential documents, as well as facilitation for activities. Way Forward 1. The board has prepared a budget which has been submitted to the interim Finance officer and the budget and appropriation committee of the county assembly, but so far there is no communication from the executive in charge of finance. The county Assembly to determine the Budget of the Public Service Board. 2. Money to be allocated for Construction of offices Board offices. 3. Official vehicle and equipment to be bought. 4. The board to recruit her own staff. 5. There should be structured mutual consultations between the Board and the Executive. RADING CHARLES, Secretary/CEO, Public Service Board of Siaya.