250 Kirinyaga County staffers trained under World Bank-financed program

Kirinyaga County Government has carried out a capacity building program for 250 members of staff through the Kenya Devolution Support Program (KDSP) in the last three years.

The program that targeted officers from various cadres was aimed at enhancing their capacity to offer more efficient and effective services to the county residents.

KDSP is a four year program financed by the World Bank to support capacity building and technical assistance at the county level to support devolution. Many of the staff recruited in top positions in many devolved units, such as the members of the County Executive Committee (CEC) and Chief Officers (Cos) do not have prior training in government operations such as public financial management and procurement which are the pillars of public service and prudent management of public resources.

Some of the areas in which the staff have been trained are planning, result-based monitoring and evaluation, human resources and performance management, civic education and public participation as well as public finance management.

Governor Anne Waiguru said that 142 officers who included Members of the County Assembly, County Executive Committee, Chief Officers and Directors were trained on program based budgeting while 15 officers were trained on Environmental Impact Assessment and gazette as Environmental Auditors.

She added that 28 officers were trained on Human Resource Plans which include succession plans, skills and competence Framework while CECs, COs and Directors were trained on Performance Contracting.

To enhance capacity in public financial management and good governance practices, the governor said that 68 senior county officials were trained on Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), public procurement, financial accounting recording and reporting.

The governor stated that the capacity building has been part of her administration’s efforts to address administrative failures of the past.

“The training has gone a long way in enabling the county government run in a more transparent, accountable and effective manner and we are keen in ensuring that our staff are well equipped with knowledge and skills for effective public service delivery”, said the governor.

She noted that due to such capacity building, the county has in the last three years won awards for prudent public service management.