Kajiado County government is seeking to increase its administrative units to the village level to strengthen devolution.
Through the Kajiado County Villages Delineation Bill 2021, the county seeks to decentralise governance further to villages with an aim of ensuring effective service delivery.
County Assembly Deputy Clerk, Kipambi Ntele, noted that the boundaries for the village units will be determined by the already established locations, thus village administrators will have powers to work within a location.
“We have Ward and Sub- County ward administrators appointed in line with the constitution. It’s now time to create county administrative units known as villages which will ensure effective service delivery to the locals,” said Ntele.
Through An Ad Hoc committee co-chaired by Rebecca Nadupoi (Nominated MCA) and Samwel Teum, (Ildamat ward MCA), members of the public have been invited to public participation fora to air their views on the bill.
The Ad Hoc Committee is gleaning information on the relevance of the bill to the residents of Kajiado.
Nadupoi noted that the constitution of Kenya 2010 envisaged effective governance to the grassroots and the passing of the bill will be a milestone for the county.
She revealed that locals in far-flung areas from the County headquarters like Rombo, Torosei and Mosiro will get services easily once the bill is given a nod.
“This will be a milestone for the county. The bill will make it easy for our people in far flung areas from the Kajiado County headquarters to be up to date with the plans of the county government all the time, ” said Nadupoi.
Members of the County Assembly drawn from the urban areas noted that their wards will be disadvantaged if the population method is not employed.
Oloolua MCA Martin Kimemia said that it is important to consider population size when determining villages so that no sub-county will be disadvantaged.
“If we only use locations to determine village boundaries, some sub counties like Kajiado North will have a disadvantage because it will have the fewest number of villages despite its population size,” said Kimemia.
Kajiado County Villages Delineation Bill 2021 currently lists a total of 102 villages. The villages are constituted from the 4 sub-counties of Kajiado South, Kajiado East, Kajiado North and Kajiado Central.
The villages will be headed by a village administrator, who will be an employee of the County and will be assisted by village elders appointed at the village level.
Names of selected village elders will be presented to members of the County Assembly for approval. The members will form the Village Council and are entitled to a sitting allowance.
By Rop Janet and Amy Moyi
