Village elders will become a new tier of government after a proposal passes that will be submitted for public comment. The planned changes will officially acknowledge village elders as civil servants under the Ministry of Interior, working in the local office of the president.
The planned changes will integrate over 45,000 village elders into the state service and provide them with monthly stipends ranging from Ksh 7,000 to Ksh 12,445.
Amounts between Ksh 3.9B and Ksh 7.09B are expected to be spent annually, not including the first year’s recruiting costs.
Public participation views invited until June 6 2024.
A village elder, among many other duties that advance the community’s welfare, is a leader selected or elected by the village’s citizens and in charge of coordinating security-related issues, upholding local ordinances, and mediating disputes between neighbors.
Through their assistance to chiefs and assistant chiefs, they are essential to the village-level operations of the national government.
They also assist in enabling national government functions, such as fostering the development of social services and education, through the Nyumba Kumi project.
Kenya has approximately 9,045 sub-locations, with an average of eight villages.
