EACC Gives All Governors 60-Day Ultimatum
EACC Gives All Governors 60-Day Ultimatum
All governors and county assembly speakers have been instructed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to present a thorough action plan for expediting records management within a sixty-day period.
The Commission carried out a corruption risk assessment throughout the counties, exposing opportunities for corruption to flourish, as stated in a circular to counties signed by EACC CEO Twalib Mbarak and acquired by the source.
Specifically, most of the counties and the county assemblies relied on a poor state of records management.
During the exercise, EACC exposed 10 weaknesses through which graft could thrive including a lack of record management policies and procedure manuals as well as a lack of designated registries to centralise receipt and dispatch of mail.
The Commission further exposed that most counties lacked records management professionals, kept an inappropriate classification system and lacked inventories for records and related assets leading to pilferage and loss of resources.
“Records are vital organisational assets that underpin transparency, accountability and good governance. Additionally, good Records Management Systems ensure that accurate, complete and authentic records are created and are easily accessible for timely decision making,” the circular read in part.
It is noteworthy that accounting officers have not taken action to institutionalize and integrate the records management function into the business systems and procedures, despite the crucial role this function plays in achieving organizational mandates.
In unstructured document collection, tracking, control, maintenance, retrieval, storage, and disposal systems, corruption opportunities arise.”
EACC also revealed inadequate and crowded storage facilities, a lack of retention and disposal schedules, subpar tracking, control, and retrieval system procedures, as well as a failure to streamline procedures and make effective planning decisions.
The flagrant absence of funding for record keeping in county assemblies and counties alarmed the Commission as well.
“The purpose of this Advisory is to bring to your attention the above concerns which hinder transparency, accountability and good governance in the conduct of public affairs and service delivery,” stated the circular.
“Each County Government (Executive and Assembly) is required to develop and operationalize policies, procedures and manuals to streamline records management.”
The Commission declared in August of last year that it was looking into 21 current and past governors who had allegedly engaged in corrupt behavior.