Town Clerk Roba Duba said on Monday it was important for City Hall to benchmark itself with international standards/CFM
NAIROBI, Kenya, July 9 – The City Council of Nairobi now wants to kick start a fresh bid to attain an ISO certification, after the recent controversial one by DQS-Kenya was nullified.
Town Clerk Roba Duba said on Monday it was important for City Hall to benchmark itself with international standards, and he argues that a certification process will help to identify areas of improvement.
“The council needs to get the ISO Certification. This is part of the performance contract within the Public Service. It is not mandatory but there is a drive towards every organisation within government to undergo the process. The council being such an institution is required to have ISO,” he said.
Duba revealed the Council had launched investigations to establish how City Hall had engaged a company which later turned out to be dubious.
“The first attempt has become a non-starter. If it is, then you have to start again because it is within the requirement of your job for an institution to get certified and so we will do everything we can to attain the status,” he said.
The Council was in April awarded the (ISO) certification for introducing electronic payment systems, adopting Information Communication Technology, efforts to reduce corruption, and dealing with ghost workers — making it the first urban council in East Africa to get such a certification.
The Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS) however nullified the certification, insisting that DQS-Kenya is not authorised as a certifying agency in the country. The National accreditation body also said investigations and checks with DQS, which is based in Frankfurt Germany, denied knowledge of the Kenyan outfit.
Former Nairobi Town Clerk Philip Kisia on the other hand insisted that the ISO 9001:2008 certificate issued to City Hall was valid and was issued to the Council due to its good plans for future efficient service delivery.
Kisia who is eyeing the Nairobi Governor’s seat claimed that KENAS which cancelled the City Council ISO certificate failed to consult the Dutch Quality Systems DQS which issued the certificate to the Council.
The former Town Clerk who left office last month also produced documents with which he claimed City Hall had not paid DQS for the accreditation.
Meanwhile Duba pointed out that the names of those individuals seeking public office but do not pay their rates will now be circulated in public as an example to rate defaulters.
The town clerk stated that details of those who disregard the consideration will be handed over to the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission and the Credit Reference Bureau.
He explained that the council is owed approximately Sh47 billion in overdue rate payments.
“If you are not an honest person and do not pay your rates, we will forward your names to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission the, Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission and the Credit Reference Bureau and this will have an impact on your career,” he said.
Duba further emphasised that this is the last chance for defaulters to clear their rates before the advent of the county government system.
“The law says this is what you need to do and if you do not follow, then you do not even deserve to hold public office. But today is an offer, an extension of the olive leaf,” he said.
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