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The Association of Local Government Authorities of Kenya
(ALGAK) was informally established in 1959 by local
authorities as a national forum to lobby for the promotion
of strong local government institutions and was registered
in 1966 under the Society’s Act of the laws of Kenya as
an umbrella body for all the local authorities in Kenya.
Membership to ALGAK is by registration and payment
of subscription fee.
History records show ALGAK as a
national forum that met once a year to change leadership
or as a talking forum of civic heads. As time went by,
ALGAK members realized the need for the organization to be
independent of the Nairobi City Council and hence strive
to be effective and efficient in its mandate.
Towards this end, a Special Annual
General Meeting was held in March 1995 and formally
approved the establishment of the an independent
Secretariat and a revised constitution of ALGAK. The new
Secretariat and constitution were intended to tackle and
address the emerging issues in the local government sector.
The independent ALGAK Secretariat
was established through the support of Friedrich Ebert
Stiftung (FES) and the German Agency for Technical
Cooperation (GTZ).
Revitalization and Registration of
ALGAK: Up to 1995, ALGAK had not been formally registered
under any law to assume a legal status. However,
revitalized ALGAK was registered under the Societies Act
on February 6th 1995.
1995 - 1997 Formative Period:
Immediately after registration and establishment of a
Secretariat, ALGAK embarked on its own restructuring:
recreating and establishing management organs with hands
on the job units. The structuring put in place Annual
General Meeting (AGM), Governing Council (GC) and the
Management Committee (MC). The Management Committee is
responsible for the day-to-day operations of the
Secretariat. Faced with a wider mandate and a backlog of
issues to address towards the achievement of the stated
objectives and overall goal, the Management Committee
established the sub-committees with the intention of
implementing projects and programmes.
Change of Policy: At inception
membership to ALGAK was automatic and upon creation as a
local authority. A study on the financial sustainability
of ALGAK recommended that membership to ALGAK be upon
application, payment of registration fees and annual
subscription. As such membership to ALGAK since 1999 has
been on the basis of choice and meeting the criteria above.
Achievements: Since the time ALGAK
established its independent Secretariat, it has posted
some notable achievements: -
1. Training of Councillor and Local
Authority Officers: In an effort to enhance management
skills in local government, ALGAK has: -
(a) Produced the Kenya Councillors Handbook
(1998); and was updated in 2002
(b) Taken initial measures to revive
professionalism in the local government sector.
2. Constitutional Reforms: With the clamour for
constitutional reforms remaining in the national political
and social agenda, ALGAK with the view to contribute has
taken the following initiatives:-
(a) ALGAK's position entitled "The Local
Government We Want in Kenya”;
(b) Initial steps in Bill Development to
review the Local Government Act Cap 265.
3. Networking: In the sphere of networking ALGAK is: -
(a) Working with the UN institutions in the
realm of implementation of HABITAT Agenda, Local Agenda
21, industrial development etc;
(b) Working closely with the Commonwealth
Local Government Forum (CLGF), AULA, IULA, and Municipal
Development Programme-Eastern and Southern Africa (MDP-ESA)
(c) Collaborating within the region with such
organisations as National Association of Local Authorities
in Rwanda (RALGA), Tanzania (ALAT), Uganda (ULGA) and
South Africa (SALGA).
4. Partnership: ALGAK is still in partnership with the
Ministry of Local Government, Freidrich Ebert Stiftung (FES),
GTZ/STDP, DED, VNG/SNV and MDP-ESA and UNDP. Coming on
board is Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) for the
purposes of library development and inculcating the
reading culture in the country.
5. Decentralization: In an effort to decentralize its own
services, ALGAK is planning to review its constitution to
facilitate its decentralization.
Emerging Challenges: ALGAK has established itself on the
scene of public affairs and indeed as a mouthpiece of the
local governments in Kenya. The immediate challenges
facing ALGAK are:
- Effective participation in the
constitutional reforms.
- Skill development for the councilors and offices in
local government sector.
- Ensuring effective and efficient networking.
- Financial viability and sustainability of association.
- Decentralization of ALGAK.
- Effective participation in the amendment the Local
Government Act Cap. 265 of the Laws of Kenya.
- Above all, ensuring that the national Government adopts
and ratifies the decentralisation policy as a basis of
local government legal reforms.
Web site : http://www.algak.net/
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