Transition Authority to vacate office as term expires

Transition Authority to vacate office as term expires

The term of the Transition Authority comes to an end Friday with its chair Kinuthia wa Mwangi expected to issue a statement on the same.

The chair is expected, among other things, to touch on the fate of the authority’s employees and more important the handover process.

However, Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri says the TA team will work with the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee for a period of one month to ensure smooth transition of functions.

The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee now takes over from TA and will oversee the devolution of the remaining services to the county governments that are still being held by the national government.

This comes just days after the Senate Committee on Devolved Government asked TA officials to vacate office after the agency’s term expires Friday saying the remaining time was not enough to consider the request to its tenure.

Council of Governors Deputy Chair Salim Mvurya has also asked the Transition Authority (TA) to ensure that all county functions have been devolved before vacating office Friday.

“As Council of Governors and Kenyans in general, we expect the Transition Authority to have transferred all the county functions to the devolved units before their time lapses” he said.

In January, the proposal by the newly appointed Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri to extend the term of the Transition Authority (TA) by one year also faced strong opposition from the Coalition for Constitution Implementation Kenya (CCI-Kenya).

In a letter by its convener Cidi Otieno, CCI-Kenya argued that by extending the term of the Transition Authority, the government will be acting contrary to Article 15 of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.

Article 15 (1) states: “Parliament shall, by legislation, make provision for the phased transfer, over a period of not more than three years from the date of the first election of county assemblies, from the national government to county governments of the functions assigned to them under Article 185.”

CCI-Kenya further stated: “Furthermore, Section 37 of the Transition to Devolved Government Act 2012 is very clear that the Transition Authority shall stand dissolved three years after the first General Elections under the Constitution of Kenya and that  upon the dissolution of the Transition Authority the Act shall lapse meaning the staff of TA shall cease to be in office.”

The Act further states: “That the TA within three years after the first General Elections should ensure that its affairs are wound up in an orderly manner and, in particular should ensure that those aspects of its work that will be of value to other institutions are preserved, documented and transferred to the relevant institution; and its files and records are preserved and transferred to the National and County Governments Coordinating Summit.”

“Furthermore extending the term of the TA will affect the Governance Structure of the Devolved Government and shall require a referendum as per Article 255 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 as extending the term of TA is tantamount to amending the Constitution of Kenya 2010.”read part of the statement

The authority, whose task was overseeing the transition from the old to the new constitution, has among other things spearheaded the devolution function.

The authority’s term expired after the National Assembly rejected its bid for extension of its term with the Senate equally reluctant to extend its mandate and only promising to consider it after their exit.

Parliament refused to extend the term, claiming the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee has the capacity to do the TA’s unfinished work.

One of the unfinished work that the authority wants more time to complete is evaluation and transfer of assets worth 43 billion shillings and issues to do with human resource who were seconded to various counties.

Tags:

senate Devolution Governors extend oppose kinuthia wa mwangi expires functions term in office Transition Authority

Want to send us a story? Submit on Wananchi Reporting on the Citizen Digital App or Send an email to wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke or Send an SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp on 0743570000

Leave a Comment

Comments

No comments yet.

latest stories