Kenya Association of Record Managers and Archivists (KARMA) has launched a new code of professionalism as part of their strategic plan to help in the national recovery caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
KARMA Chairman Clophus Ambira told members that the new conduct was intended to refurbish their skill set and knowledge.
“We have held 300 workshops training for over 1000 people to build on their professionalism,” added Ambira during the annual Records and Archives management conference.
The Chairman called for significant investment of resources and placement conditions for records officers stating that it was important in enhancing transparency and accountability by ensuring records are properly handled and avoid misplacement.
The new code of conduct has been put in place to ensure record officers adhere to guidelines of their professionalism and work towards ensuring there is no corruption in the management of records and archives.
The code of conduct was developed with the support of partners including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and World Bank among others.
The training programmes funded by the International Council on Archives run concurrent with their global strategy which calls for empowering the records and archives management professionals.
The role of KARMA has been emphasized in the process of the economic recovery in the country as government records would play a crucial part in predicting and analyzing trends before decisions are made.
These decisions include matters regarding records in the education sector that was greatly disrupted, global supply chains and matters of national security as well.
KARMA has been challenged to increase their relevance in helping different sectors of government since the records and archives kept would serve as an accurate memory for future.
Former ICT Authority Secretary Dr Katherine Getao who addressed the conference called on KARMA members to adapt technology to improve their profession.
“The countries which will be ahead will be those rich in information. Data is the new resource every country needs,” said Dr Getao.
The Kenya government is putting efforts in digitization of services and resource management and has been advised to be part of ensuring all government records are digitized.
By Galgalo Bocha and Khatib Suleiman
