The County Government of Siaya comprises the County Executive and the County Assembly headed by the Governor and Speaker respectively. The county implements its functions through 10 departments namely: Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries; Education, Youth Affairs, Gender, Social Services and Sports; Enterprise and Industrial Development; Finance and Economic Planning; Governance and Administration; Health and Sanitation; Lands, Physical Planning, Housing and Urban Development; Public Works, Roads, Energy and Infrastructure; Tourism, Culture, Art and ICT; Water, Environment and Natural Resources and the Office of the County Attorney. In addition, there is Siaya County Public Service Board which is an autonomous agency, Siaya Municipal Board under the Department of Lands, Physical Planning, Housing and Urban Development and Siaya Bondo Water and Sanitation Company Ltd (SIBOWASCO) under the Department of Water, Environment and Natural Resources. All departments are headed by a County Executive Committee Member (CECM) with the Chief Officer as the accounting officer.
In line with the Constitution and County Governments Act 2012 (CGA, 2012), county service delivery points are at the headquarters, six sub-counties and 30 wards. The County headquarters is in Siaya town, Alego-Usonga sub-county. The six sub-counties are: Alego-Usonga; Bondo; Gem; Rarieda; Ugenya and Ugunja. Administratively, Gem sub-county was divided into two, Gem Yala and Gem Wagai. Sub-counties and wards are headed by administrators. The county is yet to operationalize villages as provided for in CGA, 2012 and the Siaya Village Administrative Units Act. Sub-county, wards and villages are functions that fall under the Department of Governance and Administration. Other county departments also have service delivery points at the sub-county and ward levels as informed by service exigencies.
Following assumption of Office of the Governor on the 25th August 2022, the Governor received departmental briefs from the County Executive Committee Members and their Chief Officers. During the briefs, it emerged that there are matters touching on the integrity of the governance systems which call for a comprehensive audit with a view to developing clarity on the state of affairs in the County Government. Consequently, the Governor constituted a Taskforce on the Audit of Siaya County Governments Systems and Governance Reforms on the 4th October 2022 (Annex 1) with the following Terms of Reference:
- Review of the existing financial and other internal control systems, processes and procedures of budget management and IFMIS operation;
- Audit of Own Source Revenue collection and utilisation, integrity and efficiency of the County Government activities and supply chains, imprest account, retention accounts, pending bills, project management committee funds, payroll and staff establishment;
- Assess and recommend reforms on governance structures and systems for the purposes of enhancement of efficient and accountable service delivery;
- Advise the county on sector-based growth and development;
- Advise on automation of county operations and E-governance.
FULL REPORT - SIAYA COUNTY TASKFORCE REPORT ON SYSTEMS AUDIT AND GOVERNANCE REFORMS