Baringo South MP Charles Kamuren has urged the national government to consider paying village elders a salary for conflict resolution and peace maintenance services at the grassroots.
Speaking when he handed over a new assistant chief’s office in Sokon sub location, Mr Kamuren noted that village elders assist the government in arbitrating family disputes, land boundary disputes and help apprehend petty offenders.
Construction of the administrative office was funded through National Government constituency development fund (NG-CDF) money.
Kamuren said the government needs to pay the elders a token to motivate them to discharge their duties.
“I urge the national government to include the village elders in its payroll to motivate them however small the pay may be. It does not matter if it is Sh1000, 2000 or 10,000 for the time being. It will increase with time. I have tabled a bill in parliament on village elders and it has moved some stages. I believe by next year things will be good for the elders,” said Kamuren.
He also said there is need to train the elders who are the first link between the government and citizens at the grassroots, on basic administrative skills to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness in their work.
The MP also asked the government to issue the elders with uniforms for easy identification and recognition by members of public while executing their mandate in the villages especially when going after offenders.
Mr Kamuren who underscored the importance of national administration officials in supervision and implementation of government projects and programmes said he was committed to allocating more funds towards construction of modern offices for chiefs and their assistants across the constituency.
He challenged the administrators to use the enabling environment to expound critical government policies and programmes to Wananchi and provide quality service to members of the community in the area.