Some Challenges Faced by Local Authorities

In spite of this unique placement, local author- ities are evidently failing to competently meet public expectations. According to the Transpar- ency International-Kenya (2005), water supply, health services and garbage collection are the services to which citizens attach the highest priority. Unfortunately, these are the same

service areas in which the performance of lo- cal authorities was rated the worst. There is a myriad of other challenges, the most promi-

nent being the following:

Weak institutional and legal frameworks. The

Local Government Act Cap. 265 is the main piece of legislation that establishes and regu- lates the activities of the Local Authorities. No major overhaul of it has ever been carried out since 1963 when it was enacted as “the Local Government Regulations of 1963” to ensure

that the Act remains relevant to the needs of

the communities of particular Local Authori- ties. The system of local government and de- volution of responsibilities to communities is

not anchored either in the current or proposed

Constitution (the draft Constitution lists coun- ties as the new LAs). Nevertheless, the MoLG

has recently developed an LG Sector Reform

strategy, which is now guiding the MoLG in its LG Sector Reform.

Overlaps in oversight and management of lo- cal authorities. An analysis of the reporting

and oversight mechanisms to which local au- thorities are subjected reveals that there are multiple lines of reporting and accountability. For instance, there appears to be a parallel in

management of local government where the

provincial administration reports directly to the Office of the President, while local authori- ties on the other hand report to the Minister for Local Government. Within this set up, local authorities are in some instances expected to comply with provincial administration require- ments in the formulation of their budgets. This arrangement necessarily makes it difficult for personnel, service users and taxpayers to de- mand accountability from a single institution. In practice, this management overlap causes confusion and enables local authorities and the other institutions to escape accountability.

Further, the chief officers are employed by the public service commission, supervised, disci- plined and transferred by MoLG but are an-

swerable to and paid their salaries by local au- thorities. This lack of unity of command makes the officers less accountable rendering them less effective in service delivery.

Political interference. Performance of the local

authorities is affected by the lack of autonomy from the Minister for Local Government. The prescribed manner of enlisting councillors and personnel is prone to abuse. Since the Local Government Act (Cap. 265) allows for the ap- pointment of councillors by the Minister, often times such councillors are reluctant to submit

to the authority of the managers in the local

authorities. In situations where the councillors are elected, experiences of political party influ- ence also arise. This difficulty is often reflected in councils in which the political divisions are

so sharp that councillors are permanently pre- occupied with gaining immediate political ad- vantage over their opponents. This infighting affects the service delivery to the residents of the local authority. In some cases, personnel are hired without the consideration of their ability to perform the tasks at hand.

Poor capacity and decision making. Lack of internal capacity drives LAs to seek technical

support from line ministries in tender prepara- tion and evaluation and in project supervision. Whereas, for instance, the new procurement

law provides for usage of procurement agents

who have been prequalified by the Public Pro- curement and Oversight Authority in instances where the procuring entity lacks the skills, the current practice is injurious to LAs’ interests in

cases of professional negligence because they

have no recourse for remedy. The LAs also do not own the whole process. The personnel in the line ministries are not in a position or are

unwilling to build capacity in LAs which perpet- uates this overdependence. Such an arrange-

ment whether free or paid for is not conducive

to building sustainable capacity in LAs.

Councillors do not always formulate strategies or make decisions that improve the ability of the local authority to deliver services to the residents of the areas for which they are re- sponsible. This has been attributed to the lack of capacity, interest, incentive and motivation. Additionally, decisions are sometimes made in- formally or casually so that it is very difficult for citizens to have a clear understanding of the standing procedures of service delivery. Poor Leadership. Leaders achieve results

through other people. As vision holders they are supposed to effectively communicate

the vision throughout the organisation. Once there is a shared vision, there is commonality of purpose and the organisation’s energies and resources are directed towards the realisation of the set goals. LAs are lacking in focused lead- ership. Although a majority of them have mis- sion and visions pinned on the notice boards or the clerks’ offices, they have not been com- municated effectively to or internalised by all the employees. Some chief executives (CEO) cannot explain the status of the simple proj-

ects being implemented and this leaves one

wondering how they manage their institu- tions. There is a positive correlation between the CEO’s project leadership and the quality of works and progress. The same was reflected in the general management of council affairs. Another observation is that some CEOs are

not up to the task of leading public organisa- tions given their technical skills. Such leaders

fail to inspire and to act as role models of their

followers. Whereas a few of these officers, could be reformed through intensive training,

others appear impervious to new ideas and are

likely to be a major handicap to change. Need- less to say, such a leader often lacks the capac- ity to be a good mentor of junior staff

Competition from the Constituency Develop- ment Fund. There is the parallel development

system initiated by the Central Government

under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). The CDF is controlled by Members of Parliament and their operations are not sub- ject to the planning processes directly under the local authorities. In the process, this has led to a lack of coordinated planning, and often duplication of effort, and thus adversely affect- ing service delivery by local authorities.

4

CONCLUSIONS

It is evident from the foregoing discussion that

local authorities are uniquely and strategically

placed to act as a link between local and central

government, between resources and needs, and between the governed and the governors. It is also a fact that local authorities are impor- tant institutions for governance and services delivery at local levels. They are in close contact with the communities and with the dynamics at the local levels. Moreover, they provide an opportunity for people to exercise their demo- cratic rights of choosing local leaders every five years. It is out of the recognition of this crucial function that local authorities have been an enduring phenomenon in governance, and indeed continue to be an area of great interest

even as the country seeks a new governance

dispensation under the proposed constitution. While the Local Government Act Cap. 265 is

ties, its administration has to a large extent led to local authorities losing the capacity to effec- tively discharge their mandate as decisions at local authority level are subject to approval by the Minister for Local Government. However, as indicated by the long history of reforms, ad- ministrative changes as well as policy reviews,

it appears that Kenya is yet to get the best ar-

rangement of local government where local

authorities can effectively discharge their man- dates to the citizens.

The introduction of the Local Authorities Trans- fer Fund (LATF) in 1998 which involves the shar- ing of 5% of the National Income tax appears

to have given a new lease of life to local au- thorities as they presently have some resourc-

es available to them to help them discharge

their mandates. LATF however appears to be in competition with the CDF which is adminis- tered at the constituency level. The central question however is what unit of decentralisa- tion should be charged with devolved funds so that this competition is eliminated and efficien- cy is attained in service delivery. The prevail- ing opinion amongst local authority practitio- ners is that local authorities are better placed to provide this institutional arrangement. In that process there is need to define local au- thorities mandates and specify their sources of revenue. The ongoing constitution of Kenya

review process offers such an opportunity to

address all the outstanding issues with regard

to local governance, as for instance, it has set out that 15% percent of national income will be used by devolved units.