In Kenya, records management occupies a strategic position in effective and efficient public sector management, where leaders need to be accountable and transparent to the citizenry. The devolution of government services and ongoing public services reforms, especially in municipalities, presents various challenges, such as changing leadership styles, communication patterns, planning procedures, and regional policies and programs. Similar to other government ministries and departments, the number of records created and received in municipalities has increased significantly over the years, and these municipalities stand the risk of losing their heritage if records are not well managed.
According to the 2020/2021 annual audit reports from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), municipalities face challenges in managing records, leading to audit queries. As a result, several municipalities sought assistance from the аIJʿª½± under the (KUSP, P156777) to receive technical support in records management.
To start, six pilot municipalities and one city were selected: Rumuruti, Wote, Bomet, Vihiga, Kilifi, Malindi, and Nakuru City, with the aim of scaling up to the remaining 53 Municipal governments. аIJʿª½± Group's Archives and Records Nairobi team, in collaboration with the National Program Coordination Team (NPCT) under the State Department of Housing and Urban Development, organized a high-level Records Management Roadmap training for all municipal managers. This training aimed to introduce the WBG Records Management Roadmap Toolkit and gain municipal management support. Subsequently, six records management officers in the selected pilot municipalities received training. The municipal teams used the toolkit to conduct records management capacity assessments in their respective municipalities.
аIJʿª½± records management team, supported by two consultants, collaborated with the municipalities and NPCT to address and strengthen the gaps identified during the assessment. The expansion and implementation of KUSP Phase II are guided by the lessons learned from the pilot stage. Some of the lessons learned include the importance of senior management support, client ownership, resource commitment, team effort, and institutionalizing records management in the monitoring and evaluation program.