Professionals needed in counties

Ibrahim Mwathane 

 

By  Ibrahim Mwathane

Late last year I spoke to members of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya on governance, politics and professionalism in county governance.

I underscored the need for professionals in Kenya to rise up and participate in politics at the national and county level. Politics is about people and their welfare. It’s about ensuring accountability in the delivery of services to citizens.

It drives the provision of essential services such as power, water, roads, education and healthcare. Politics affects our quest for peace and security hence directly determines the absence or presence of an enabling social-economic environment.

Politics is intertwined with our lives. Professionals therefore cannot afford to leave what they like referring to as ‘‘murky politics’’ to others, I observed. Their very objective in practising their respective professional disciplines would be fundamentally undermined by a diminished business environment and poor social and infrastructural services.

I further observed that owing to their specialised training in various disciplines, professionals can make good politicians. This is why I was quite happy to notice from the gazetted list of those elected as MPs, governors, senators, women and ward representatives in the last polls that several are professionals.

They should apply their skills and experience in the interest of society. They should influence the development of policies and legislation. They must make strategic inputs and interventions to ensure that appropriate budgets are voted in for the implementation of such policies and laws.

I also pointed out that professionals will be critically needed for the success of county governments. The National Land Commission Act, for instance, establishes county land management boards and specifically requires that one member be either a surveyor or a physical planner.

The Urban Areas and Cities Act vests the management of cities and municipalities in county governments. But these will be run by management boards to be established by the various counties, away from previous practice. One member of each of these boards must be nominated by ‘‘an umbrella body representing professional associations in the area’’.

The County Governments Act further requires that a County Public Service Board be established whose secretary must be a certified public secretary. Legal services, housing, health, infrastructure, ICT and financial management in the counties will all call for experienced professionals.

Sadly, most far flung counties do not have enough practising professionals. Moreover, the Association of
Professional Societies in East Africa (APSEA), which is the national ‘‘umbrella body representing professional associations’’, has a presence only at the national level.

APSEA and its affiliate associations must quickly address this gap. Meanwhile, county governments could headhunt and provide appropriate incentives to the professionals they wish to attract.

But the professionals elected to various offices must be guided by professional ethics and national values in their routine work. Their exemplary performance will compel many to follow.