CPSB ANNUAL REPORT: Employees with forged papers under investigation as the Executive is blamed

In Summary;

• DOWNLOADABLE; annual report for CPSB
• Financial Report
• CPSB Recommendations
  • Blame games
• Committee General Observations
• Committee’s Recommendations
• Delayed, Inconclusive CPSB annual report
• Total number of County employees, Bloated wage bill
• CPSB failures in employing village admins
• Employees who haven’t declared their wealth, consequences
• #iKUWEiKUWE Corner

Bungoma County Public Service Board (CPSB) report was tabled in the house on 19^th January 2021 and committed to the Public Administration and ICT committee led by Khalaba MCA Hon. Majimbo Okumu for interrogation. The committee retreated to consider the report from 11^th to 14^th February 2021 at Kika Hotel Kisumu and compiled its report for consideration by the County Assembly of Bungoma. The report was tabled and adopted on 25^th Feb 2021

It’s quite a detailed report that #iKUWEiKUWE chooses to highlight few key points;

THE ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE BUNGOMA COUNTY PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SECTIONS 59(1) (f) AND 59(5) OF THE COUNTY GOVERNMENTS ACT 2012.

 Financial Report

During the year under review, the Board was allocated recurrent funds of Kshs. 45,871,151 for the FY 2019/20 and Kshs. 47,102,840 for FY 2020/21. The Board has not been allocated any development funds since 2015.

As at 31 ^st December, 2020, the absorption rate stood at Kshs. 20,142,486, representing

43% of the approved budget. These funds were expended as outlined below:

Pending Bills

The CPSB had pending bills brought forward from the FY 2019/20 totaling to Kshs. 15,016,147. Among the pending bills is Kshs. 3,405,371 owed to West End consultancy who had been contracted to develop BQs and building plans at The BQs and development plans were developed with intentions of constructing an Administration block. The amount is inclusive of supervision fees.

CPSB Recommendations

1. The Board requests the County Assembly and the Executive to consider allocating it extra funding of Kshs.113, 367,060e. Kshs.74, 971,560 for recurrent and Kshs.38, 395,500 for development.
2. That consideration is done to enable the Board construct an administration block at estimated cost of 38 Million to address the challenge of office space.
3. That the County Assembly consider legislation of laws that can curb unemployment by encouraging self-employment and creating favorable conditions for investors to hence create employment.
4. That the laws governing the establishment of the CPSB be adhered to and separation of powers among the County Government bodies be observed.
5. That proper mechanisms be put in place to reduce bureaucracy both in procurement and financial processes.
6. That more policies be developed to enhance operations of the Board.

4.0. COMMITTEE GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

The committee made the following observations:

1. The committee takes cognizance of the Board’s effort in compliance with the provisions of Section 59(f) of the County Government Act, 2012; in submission of the Annual report for the year 2020 to the County Assembly.
2. The report provided statistical data on the appointment, re-designation, promotion and regularization of personnel in the County Public Service; with no details on the criteria and human resource policy documents used.
3. The report highlighted a number of officers who were trained during the year under review, however the training needs assessment report was not submitted to enable the committee determine whether there was budgetary allocation for the same and if there was value added to the county public service by the trained officers.
4. The Board demonstrated the extent to which the values and principles of equality, inclusiveness, non-discrimination and protection of the marginalized referred to in Article 10 and 232(1g, h & i) had been complied with.
5. The Board demonstrated compliance to Article 232(1)(b) by submitting the quarterly reports and financial statements, and a breakdown of expenditures as proof of efficient, effective and economic us e of resources appropriated to it.
6. The Board demonstrated compliance with Section 59(e) of the CGA, 2012 where it is required to inform and educate county public service officers and the public about the values and principles; through the training of the 64 public officers against a workforce of 6342. Additionally, the Board facilitated awareness and publicity on employment opportunities to the public and supervised the declaration of income, assets and liabilities among the entire County Public Service and reported to the relevant agencies- PSC and EACC.
7. The committee noted from the Board’s secretary submission that the submitted draft Strategic Plan had been adopted and was being used in the implementation of the board’s programmes.
8. The Board failed to demonstrate the extent to which values and principles as outlined in Article 232(1)(e) on accountability for administrative acts was complied with, especially with regard to advertisement of positions for village administrators; where the Board went ahead and advertised for the vacancies despite there being no budgetary allocation and the County Assembly resolution directing against their recruitment in the period under review.
9. Section 59(5) of the CGA, 2012 outlines the specific information that the annual report from the CPSB to the County Assemblies should contain. The committee made the following observations in regard to the submitted report;

a) The CPSB failed to comply with the provisions of 59(5) (a) which requires that the annual report is to be delivered each December to the County Assembly. The committee noted that the report was received by the Office of the Clerk on 15th of January 2021 and tabled on 19th of January 2021.

b) The report did not include all the steps taken and decisions made by the Board contrary to Section 59(5)(b).

c) The report did not indicate the specific recommendations that require to be implemented in the promotion and protection of values and principles as required by Section 59(5) (c ).

d) The report did not include the specific decisions on particulars of persons or public body who had violated the values and principles, including the action taken or recommended against them as provided in Section 59(1) (d).

In its summary of returns, the CPSB’s annual report records 6,342 as the number of officers in its establishment as at 31st of October 2020 and 6,086 as the number of those officers who had complied with the submission of declarations in time. The report indicates 204 as the number of officers who had not complied with submission of declaration for the period; but a computation of the declared numbers of 6342 versus 6086 gives a difference of 256 as personnel who had not declared their assets and liabilities in the stipulated period.

Additionally, the report does not include any remedies taken on the officers who failed to make their assets and liabilities declarations contrary to the Public Officers Ethics Act, 2003.

e) The report did not indicate any impediment in the promotion of values and principles.

f) The report included the training programs the board undertook in the medium term towards the promotion of the values and principles.

10. There was no proof of compliance or any explanations for non-compliance to Section 59(6) of the CGA 2012 which requires that: The Board shall publish a report required under this section in the County Gazette not letter than seven days after the report has been delivered to the County Assembly.

11. The board has been unable to perform its functions effectively as outlined in sections 59 to 75 of the CGA, 2012.This was attributed to constant interference by the County Executive and the political class.

It is the prerogative of the board to establish and abolish offices in the county public service (Sections 60&61 of CGA, 2012), make appointments (Sections 63, 64, 65&67), advertise vacant positions (Section 66), confirm appointments (Section 71), deploy public officers (Section72), and regulate appointments on contract (Section 74). It was noted that some of the board’s powers have been usurped by other bodies such as the Office of the Governor, Office of the County Secretary and CECM Public Service and Management.

It is within the express mandate of the board to regulate the engagements of persons on contract and casual workers as provided in section 74 of the CGA, 2012.It was noted that various departments have engaged numerous persons on contract and recruited hundreds of casual workers without the involvement of the board. Some other persons have been appointed by the offices of the Governor and County Secretary without following the due process.

12. The Board secretary while appearing to clarify on pertinent issues that had been raised by the committee on the annual report confirmed that there exist no casual workers in the current establishment of the CPSB and County Government of Bungoma.
13. The CPSB has not adhered to the provisions of Article 10(2) (b) of the Constitution of Kenya on ethnic balancing in the recruitment of officers to the service. The current threshold as per the law is 30 per cent non locals; a condition which the CPSB falls below par for the period under review.
14. The regularization of the 131 personnel in the department of health and sanitation was unprocedural. Some of the officers lacked proper documents, whereas some had forged papers. The matter has been reported and is being handled by the relevant government agencies.
15. The County has a bloated wage bill as 43% of the County revenue that is currently being spent on the county personnel emoluments contrary to the provisions of Regulation 25(1)(b) of the PFM Regulations, 2015 and Section 107(2) (c) of the PFM Act, 2012. Therefore, the County Executive has been unable to adhere to the fiscal responsibility principles provided in law. This has been occasioned by the CPSB’s failure to advise the County executive to operate within the confines of Sec. 59 (1) (g) of the CGA, 2012

COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATIONS

The committee recommends as follows:

1. That, for impartial and effective service delivery, the independence of the CPSB should be guaranteed. The CPSB has continued to rely on the County Executive for exchequer releases to execute its functions. As a body corporate, the CPSB should be allowed to run its own accounts and manage its exchequer
2. That the CPSB should hasten the process of customization of the schemes of service and career progression guidelines to aid in the human resource management specific to the needs of the County Government. Currently the Board relies on these documents from the National Government.
3. That the CPSB should play its advisory role as envisaged under Sec. 59 (l) (g) of the CGA, 2012, and take to task the County Executive on adherence to the management of the County Public Service wage bill as envisaged under Regulation 25(1)(b) the PFM Regulations, 2015 and Section 107(2) (c) of the PFM Act, 2012.
4. That the CPSB should endeavor to broaden its scope in the sensitization of the County workforce and the public on National Values and Principles of the Public Service Leadership and Integrity. The Board has managed to sensitize only 64 out of a workforce of 6,342. The impact of the exercise should ensure a representative fraction participates in such fora for effective service delivery. The Public Service (Values and Principles Act), 2015 is explicit on the conduct of public officers.
5. The CPSB should take disciplinary action on the officers who failed to declare their income, assets and liabilities contrary to the Public Officers Ethics Act, 2003 and the Code of Conduct and Ethics for Public Officers in the County Government of Bungoma. Evidence of this undertaking should be filed with the County Assembly within 30 days of adoption of this report. Further the variance in number of officers who failed to make their declarations i.e. 204 versus 256 should be clarified and reported back to the County Assembly within 30 days of adoption of this report.
6. That CPSB should at all times comply with the law while recruiting officers into service in terms of ethnic distribution requirements in line with Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.
7. The CPSB should avail a comprehensive list of all staff exits from service within 30 days from the date of adoption of this report to enable the County Assembly appropriate funds meant for personnel emoluments unerringly and reflective of the officers in service during the budgeting cycle.
8. The CPSB should uphold the law while observing statutory requirements in their obligation to submit their annual report to the County Assembly within the stipulated timelines as outlined in Sec. 59 (5) (1) (a) of the County Governments Act, 2012.

Download here; CPSB ANNUAL REPORT 2 (1) 

#iKUWEiKUWE Corner;

• I wish to remind our readers that what’s in this report is precisely what #iKUWEiKUWE Updates via ikuweikuwe.com has been time and again published… THAT; The executive has always micromanaged the CPSB against the law. The cat has been let out