The Ministry of Interior now says that compensation of village elders will strengthen grassroots governance and community development in the country.
The ministry said that throughout Kenya's history, village elders have played a crucial role in grassroots governance.
This, it said, has been going on with the elders playing this role as volunteers, representing the government's interests at the local level, overseeing villages under the guidance of Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs.
The Interior Ministry has now proposed a Bill (The National Government Coordination (Amendment) Bill) that seeks to recognise village elders as National Government Administrative Officers.
The amendment was proposed by Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki.
The Bill, among other things proposes payment of allowances as determined by the Public Service Commission in consultation with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
It also proposes recognition of these elders as National Government Administration officials.
The policy framework also addresses concerns about recruitment of village elders.
“The proposed policy framework recommends a phased implementation of a monthly allowance of up to Sh7,000, depending on Kenya's economic conditions, for village elders across the country.
“A start-off stipend of Sh2,000 per month is proposed, which is commensurate to the disbursement given to elders in the Inua Jamii Programme. This approach will enable the Ministry of Interior and National Administration to evaluate the financial impact and present it to the National Treasury for budgetary allocation,” the ministry said.
The ministry said that currently, there are 9,045 sub-locations and 106, 072 villages in Kenya and the legislative proposal aims to amend the National Government Coordination Act of 2013 to recognize village elders in each unit officially.