Some 5,892 chiefs and their assistants will on Monday graduate at the Embakasi A Campus as the government moves to empower the grassroots administrators in a changed structure. 

Renamed National Government Administration following the promulgation of the Constitution in 2010, this governance structure has been viewed as a tool of oppression by successive regimes since pre-independence with chiefs being the face of government’s authoritarian rule.  

In training the chiefs, the Kenya Kwanza administration hopes the negative perception towards the administrators will change.

For the past year, the chiefs and assistant chiefs have been training in batches at the Campus formerly known as Administration Police Training College (APTC) where they studied paralegal, governance, and security management.

“The course strengthens the capacity of newly appointed and serving chiefs and assistant chiefs to deal with evolving threats and to provide first response on security, administrative justice and last mile service delivery,” explained Beverly Opwora, Principal Administrative Secretary, National Administration.

President William Ruto is expected to preside over their pass-out parade and award of certificates in a move aimed at improving efficiency within the National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs) structure where the chief and their assistants fall.

Deputy Inspector General in charge of Administration Police Gibert Musengeli on Sunday presided over the rehearsal re-emphasising that the training was a culmination of weeks of intense training aimed at equipping the administrators with essential skills in paralegal support, governance and security management.

Early this year, the government launched the National Government Administration Police Unit (NGAPU) whose mandate is to support chiefs, assist county commissioners, deputy county commissioners and regional commissioners.

Following the restructuring of National Police Service in 2018, the administrators were left exposed after 24,000 Administration Police (AP) officers were deployed to general duty roles.

“This gap has resulted in challenges such as unguarded government installations, increased threats to NGAOs in the line of duty, and slow response times to public safety incidents, particularly in remote areas,” explained Internal Security Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo during the launch of NGAPU in Kwale County in January.

The role of NGAOs include law enforcement support, public safety and emergency response, ensuring faster response times to emergencies, protection of government Installations, securing government offices and assets at divisional and locational levels against threats such as theft, arson, and break-ins, and peacebuilding and conflict resolution.

Further, they serve as the pivotal coordination link where ministries, departments and agencies coalesce in efforts to achieve service delivery to citizens at the grassroots.

“The State Department for Internal Security and National Administration is keen on fully aligning its operations with the government’s inclusive socio-economic transformation by ensuring a safe and secure environment for every citizen to participate in nation-building endeavours,” said Opwora.

According to the senior official, the NGAOs are expected to lead from the front in intensifying the coordination, supervision, monitoring, and reporting on national government projects and programmes to ensure citizens get value for their money across all sectors of the economy.

Apart from capacity building, plans are under to construct decent offices for the chiefs, some who work under a deplorable environment.

“To tackle logistical shortcomings that government administrators have had to contend with, more resources are being set aside to acquire vehicles for deputy and assistant county commissioners as well as motorcycles for chiefs and their assistants with a view to enhancing their mobility and service delivery,” added Opwora.