CTG is working with the Transition Authority (TA) of Kenya to build information sharing capabilities for government-wide assets and liabilities management. As part of this effort, CTG Director Theresa Pardo and Program Director Donna Canestraro are traveling to Kenya the week of January 20th to conduct a two-day workshop and develop a set of recommendations for the TA.

The TA has the mandate to prepare and validate an inventory of all existing assets and liabilities of government, other public entities and defunct local authorities; make recommendations for effective management of assets of the National and County governments; provide mechanism for the transfer of assets which may include vetting the transfer of assets during the transitional period; and develop a criteria to determine the transfer of previously shared assets, liabilities and staff of the government and defunct local authorities.

“The TA’s task is large and complex requiring considerable resources and time,” said Dr. Pardo. “CTG has the expertise to help them build the information sharing capabilities necessary to address the many challenges associated with the transfer of public assets and liabilities.”

The two day workshop and interviews with selected TA, MDA, and other key stakeholders will provide the Kenyan participants with not only an appreciation of the need for and value of developing information sharing capabilities for assets and liabilities management but also begin the process of identifying which information sharing capabilities might already exist and which ones must be developed in support of asset management.

Pardo and Canestraro will use CTG’s Information Sharing Capability Framework to help participants begin to identify the policy, management, and technology capabilities needed to ensure the information sharing necessary to meet the objectives of the TA and the Task Force on Devolved Government.

Based on the workshop findings, CTG will develop a set of recommendations for building information sharing capabilities for assets and liabilities management, which will include new knowledge and understanding about the challenges to creating information sharing capability in support of assets and liabilities management. The CTG Framework and recommendations will support the transformation of organizational structures and communication channels among multiple agencies working in different locations and help create new work processes and significant organizational change for assets and liabilities management.

This effort is part of a larger $1.9 million funded project to the SUNY Center for International Development (CID), to implement Effective Devolved County Governance technical assistance and training activities in Kenya. These activities are designed to assist Kenyan institutions in their transition to the new devolved system. The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) added these funds to SUNY/CID’s ongoing Parliamentary Strengthening Program, jointly funded by DFID and USAID, that has been working with both national and county level governments to implement the 2010 constitution, which created 47 new county governments as well as a national-level Senate.