Business Daily (Nairobi)
Ibrahim Mwathane
2 May 2011
opinion
You may have seen colourful service charters produced by most ministries as we entered the second millennium.
The charters provide details of the services provided by the respective departments complete with timelines.
But we may have forgotten to provide an effective oversight and monitoring mechanism for implementation.
I would for instance want to know whether our police force and immigration departments have any.
If they do, what timeline did the police attach to issuing an abstract or responding to a distress call?
What is the timeline for processing an application for a public demonstration? Do they comply? And how long should it take the Immigration ministry to process an identity card, a passport or a work permit? Is there compliance?
While these are only for illustration, ministries must regularly audit their service delivery performance against timelines provided in service charters for improvement.
But I could do some justice by providing details relating to the Lands ministry with which I make regular contact.
The Ministry’s Charter, dated July 2009 comes complete with the vision and mission statements.
It also carries the core values and functions of the Ministry. In addition, it provides insight into the diverse functions of the four constituent departments of Lands, Survey, Physical Planning and Land Adjudication and Settlement.
Now some benchmarks. In the charter, the Lands department provides that it will issue search certificates in one day.
But what timeline do landowners, practising lawyers and valuers experience whenever they apply?
In the Nairobi Central Registry, experience shows this takes weeks, months and in some cases, even years.
They promise that boundary disputes will be determined in two months. Experience shows that this hardly ever happens.
Not even related correspondence is answered in two months.
They provide that services like approval of subdivision and building plans along with consents for transfer, charge or lease of properties should take two days
I have evidence that most of these will take three months to years even when all conditions have been well met. Pursuing these approvals is agonising and protracted.
Survey of Kenya indicates that they will process mutation survey forms in fifteen minutes. Practising surveyors will tell you it doesn’t happen.
We are yet to hear of offices doing it within the indicated time. The checking of survey records for township surveys, which is a big concern for practising surveyors, has no timeline provided.
This is an area that needs attention for ease of measuring. A timeline of two weeks would serve the country well.
The departments of Physical Planning and Land Adjudication and Settlement have allocated timelines to their raft of services too. The question begs whether they ever adhere.
The charter further promises prompt responses to all queries, written correspondence and e-mail. Any delays will be explained within five working days, it states.
I have evidence that correspondence cannot be answered without follow up. E-mail? Those I meet complain of total non-response. And no explanations ever follow.
Consumers of services in the Lands ministry should therefore use the charter to seek services in accordance with the charter.
If there’s breach, they should report to the permanent secretary or head of station.
If dissatisfied, then the ombudsman. But they nowadays may as well consider using the courts to demand this constitutional right for public services.
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