GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 204

the following resolutions as captured in the table below. S/No. Cadre Board Resolution 1. Program Manager Approved 2. Program Accountant Approved 3. Administrator/Human Resource Officer Approved 4. Program Officer, Medical Laboratory Services Approved 5. Driver Approved 6. Program Officer, Care and Treatment Not Approved 7. Program Officer, SGBV and PMTCT Not Approved 8. Program Officer, HTS & PreP Not Approved Officers whose requests the Board did not approve are on locum and their appointments were not regulated by the Board as staff of joint ventures in line with Section 74 of the County Governments Act 2012. 2.4 Transfer of Services In the period under review, the Board received a total of three (3) transfer requests from either the County Government of Migori to other public service entities or vice versa. Out of the total requests received, one was approved as summarized in the table below. S/No. Category No. of Transfers Received No. of Transfers Approved 1. Transfer requests from Migori County to other public service entities 1 1 2. Transfer requests from other public service entities to Migori County 2 0 TOTAL 3 1 2.5 Promotion of Employees Since the period under review was a transition period for the Board, there were no promotions done. Notwithstanding, at the time of writing this report, county departments have forwarded requests for staff promotions and redesignations, and the Board is scrutinizing the requests for administrative action. 3. Exercise of Disciplinary Control Disciplinary control in the county public service is a function provided under section 59 (1) (c) of the County Governments Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board received three (3) disciplinary cases which are at different stages of conclusion as at 31st December, 2023. 4. 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 the period under review, the Board did not submit regular reports to the County Assembly. 5. Promote in the County Public Service the Values and Principles Referred to in Articles 10 and 232 This is one of the functions of the Board according to section 59 (1) (e) of the County Governments Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board sensitized departmental staff on the Declaration of Income, Assets and Liabilities for the 2023 cycle. 6. Evaluate and Report to the County Assembly on the Extent to which the Values and Principles Referred to in Articles 10 and 232 are Complied with in the County Public Service Section 59 (1) (f) of the County Governments Act, 2012 mandates the Board to evaluate and report to the County assembly on the extent to which the values and principles referred to in Articles 10 and 232 of 60 60 the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 are complied with in the county public service. The Board has monitored and evaluated compliance with these Values and Principles as follows: - (a) Preparation of an evaluation tool for monitoring compliance with the Values and Principles referred to in Articles 10 and 232 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. (b) Sending the evaluation tool to all departments to evaluate the compliance level with the 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 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 are complied with in the Migori County Public Service. (d) Gazettement of the Annual Report in the Kenya Gazette on the extent to which the Values and Principles referred to in Articles 10 and 232 are complied with in the Migori County Public Service. 7. Facilitate the Development of Coherent, Integrated Human Resource Planning and Budgeting for Personnel Emoluments in Migori County In order to perform this function as mandated in section 59 (1) (g) of the County Governments Act, 2012, the Board carried out the following activities: (a) Development of the draft Internship, Recruitment, Training and Sexual Harassment policies which are awaiting public participation. (b) Review of the Human Resource Policy and Procedures Manual. (c) Development of draft Conflict of Interest Handbook. 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 Governments Act, 2012. In order to perform this function, the Board made the following advisories: (a) Advisory opinion on recruitment of temporary staff to the County Secretary (b) Made a request for advisory opinion from SRC on course approvals in the County government (c) Request for advisory opinion from PSCK on management of waivers from the requirements of career progression guidelines in the county public service for staff promotions considering competency and experience. (d) Advisory to the County Secretary on certificate of service for officers exiting the county public service. (e) Advisory opinion to the County Secretary on operationalization of extraneous allowance in the county public service. (f) Advisory opinion to the County Secretary on carrying out re- designation of public officers in the county public service. 9. Advise Migori County Government on Implementation and Monitoring of the National Performance Management System in Migori County In order to perform this function as mandated in section 59(1)(i) of the County Governments Act, 2012, the Board issued an advisory opinion to the County Secretary on: (a) Implementation and monitoring of the national performance management system in the county public service. 10. Recommendations to Src on Remuneration, Pensions and Gratuities for Migori County Employees. In order to perform this function as enshrined in section 59(1)(j) of the County Government Act, 2012, the Board has carried out the following activities: (a) Wrote to the SRC on non-definition of the designation of Assistant ECDE Teacher III JG CPSB 13 or (JG F) in the IPPD. (b) Forwarded the current salary data for ECDE Teachers in Migori county public service. (c) Forwarded the questionnaire for annual study on attrition and retention of requisite skills in the county public service. 11. Challenges Faced by the Board in the Course of Executing its Mandate (a) Budgetary Constraints: The Board could not implement a number of activities due to budgetary constraints. Further, the mandate and functions of the Board require a significant increase in budget support way above the current allocations. (b) Encroachment of the Board’s Mandate: Notwithstanding the mandate of the Board as enshrined in Section 59 of the County Governments Acts, 2012, some Departments are encroaching on the mandate of the Board. Consequently, budgets are allocated to other Departments resulting in the Board’s inability to perform some of its mandates and functions. (c) Physical Resource Challenges: Insufficient tools of service like computers, ICT equipment, Wi-Fi and utility vehicles have hindered the Board’s effectiveness in delivering on its mandates. (d) Legal Challenges: The Board continues to face a number of legal hurdles in the process of execution of its duties. EVALUATION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE VALUES AND PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE Migori County 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 the entire county public service with the exception of the county assembly which has an oversight role. The evaluation for the year 2023 clustered the Values and Principles into ten (10) thematic areas, designed indicators for each and identified relevant data sources. The data and other information specific to departments were obtained through the evaluation tool while other relevant information was obtained from oversight institutions, reports by the Office of the Controller of Budget and the Department of Finance and Economic Planning. Findings show a significant level of compliance. (a) Good Governance, Transparency and Accountability: This principle was assessed based on the following indicators; Existence of reviewed organizational structure; Succession management; Adoption of e-procurement; Percentage score of the department on performance management as per review done by county executive; Levels of staff performance appraisal; Number of staff under disciplinary action and Existence of corruption perception survey report. Findings indicated that the County does not have an approved staff establishment. On succession management, most of the staff are relatively young which indicates a need for more capacity building and mentorship. All departments complied with e-procurement since it is a statutory requirement especially for capital projects. On matters accountability, there was an average score of good as per the rankings in the evaluation. The county is yet to fully implement and cascade the performance management framework to all the staff. It was also noted that none of the departments had conducted a corruption perception survey since the inception of the county. The Board recommends that: (i) The county assembly approves the staff establishment for the whole county in order to streamline staffing levels in all departments and have a document that would inform recruitments, redesignations and promotions in the county public service. (ii) All staff be put on the performance management framework commencing January 2024 and the copies of the evaluated 12th January, 2024 THE KENYA GAZETTE appraisal forms be filed in the personal files at the department and at the central registry. (iii) All departments to adhere to the SPAS guidelines and forward their SPAS reports to the Board as per the guidelines (iv) All departments liaise with EACC to conduct the corruption perception survey at the commencement of the 2024/2025 FY. (v) All officers leaving the service to receive a certificate of service signed and stamped by the head of the county public service. (b) Professionalism and ethics in the Public Service: This principle and value was assessed on the basis of four indicators namely – availability of key policy documents on ethics at the disposal of the accounting officers, availability of training budgets, number of staff trained, membership to professional bodies and declaration of income, assets and liabilities. All these indicators recorded average level of compliance, save for the declaration of income, assets and liabilities which had a score of 100%. The Board recommends that; (i) All accounting officers produce and bind copies of key documents and use the same for daily reference. (ii) Departments to allocate at least 2% of their budgetary allocations towards training of staff. (iii) Records of the trainings to be forwarded to the Board on monthly or quarterly basis going forward. (iv) The Board to properly induct all new officers joining the county public service. (v) The Board to ensure that all staff joining and leaving the service fill a Declaration of Income Assets and Liabilities form. (c) Provisioning for diversity: This principle was assessed by indicators that exclusively focused on the reported number of employees in the departments that participated in the survey. These were; ethnic representation, gender representation and disability mainstreaming. On ethnic representation, the representation of the various ethnic groups in the county public service appears relatively proportional to the county population. Additionally, the county has included minority communities such as the Maasai, Kenyan Asian, Kenyan Arab, and Orma in the service. The representation by gender meets the required threshold while the percentage of disabled staff in the county is still much lower than the constitutional threshold. These findings should be tempered by the census of all staff in the county public service. The Board recommends that all Departments to maintain disaggregated human resource data that provides a standard profile of those in their employment. (d) Fair competition and merit in appointments and promotions: This principle was assessed on the basis of three indicators, namely, fair competition and merit, advertisement of job vacancies, representation in appointments. In the period under review, the Board did not carry out any appointments and promotions. The Board shall explore more means of advertising of vacancies to increase the reach to a wider target population. Further, the Board recommends that Chief Officers commence the performance appraisal which shall be used as a basis of merit in promotions. (e) Efficiency, Effectiveness and Economic Use of Resources: This principle was assessed based on the alignment of the budget with planning. All departmental budgets were in line with the county integrated development plan for 2018-2022. Regarding the indicator of budget absorption, departments performed well on the recurrent side but poorly on the development side. Another indicator in this area was allocative budget efficiency and utilization. A majority of the departments fell short of meeting the recommended ratios for both recurrent-to-development expenditure and personnel emoluments-to-operations-and-maintenance. The Board recommends that the Department of Finance and Economic Planning to put in place strategies to lead the county towards adherence to the indicators in this thematic area. (f) Sustainable Development: This principle was evaluated based on the dimension of pending bills as a percentage of the allocated budget. It was observed that fifteen (15) departments representing 79% of the county departments had pending bills which hindered the planning process for subsequent years. The Board recommends that the departments should be furnished with regular printouts of IFMIS by-products on payments made to suppliers. (g) Responsive, Prompt, Impartial and Equitable Service: This principle was evaluated using five indicators: automation of services, presence of service charters, customer care desks, suggestion boxes, and complaint registers. In terms of automation of services, there was an overall compliance rate of 89%, signifying that most departments are utilizing technology to provide efficient and timely services to residents. Concerning the existence of service charters, customer care desks, suggestion boxes, and complaint registers, departments performed reasonably well. In conclusion, implementing the last set of indicators in this thematic area requires minimal to zero budget. Therefore, the Board recommends that Departmental accounting officers should print and display service charters at all points of service delivery. Further, the Board will carry out customer satisfaction survey. (h) Public Participation in Policy Making and Implementation: This was assessed on the basis of two indicators namely existence of public participation policy and number of public participation fora held in the period under review. From the findings, 55% of the departments acknowledged the presence of a Public Participation Policy document. The findings further indicate that 80% of the departments, led by the Department of Trade, Tourism, Industrialization, and Co- operatives, conducted public participation forums. The Board recommends that Departments should use the Public Participation Policy in place in order to meet the constitutional requirements. On the number of forums, the Board recommends that departments should prepare back to office reports for accountability for funds used to conduct the same. (i) Upholding Human Rights in the County Public Service: The evaluation concluded that compliance with the principle was reasonably good. However, future evaluations should consider sourcing data from oversight bodies for a more comprehensive assessment. Further, the Board recommends that Departments should source for and display posters to create awareness on human rights. (j) Devolution and Sharing of Power: The evaluation revealed that most departments (79%) had participated in joint ventures with partners of common interests. On the percentage of staff deployed to the sub counties, finding revealed that 76% of the staff in Migori County public service are in the sub-counties which captures the spirit of devolution. The Department of Education, Youth, Sports, Gender Inclusivity, Culture and Social Services reported to have completed 131 projects in the period under review which is the leading number, followed by the Department of Water and Energy which completed 75 projects in the same period. In conclusion, there is need for a uniform policy guideline on the proportion of staff that should be retained at the county headquarters. On community projects, there is need to carry out a thorough monitoring and evaluation to ascertain the concentration of projects in sub counties and wards. The Board recommends that Departments should double the efforts of seeking partnerships and adhering to donor requirements 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. Create avenues for the general public to engage the board and give feedback on the implementation of the values and principles. 62 62 2. Develop a reward and sanctions policy geared towards rewarding officers who promote the values and sanctioning those that contravene the same. 3. Liaise with stakeholders like the county assembly to seek meaningful partnerships towards the entrenchment of the values in the public service. 4. Organize quarterly sensitization meetings with CECMs and Chief Officers on implementation of values in the public service. 5. 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. 6. Prepare an annual work plan outlining all activities to be carried out towards the implementation of the values and budgeting for the same. 7. Prepare and implement a county employment equity plan for purposes of eliminating ethnic imbalance 8. Publish and distribute handbooks on values and principles to all staff to increase awareness. Dated the 8th January, 2024. ANDREW O. OCHOLA, Secretary/CEO, MR/6208766 Migori County Public Service Board.