National Archives and the effective Management of Public Sector Records in Kenya
Authors
Kemoni, N Henry
Ngulube, Patrick
Issue Date
2007
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Kenya, National Archives , Public records , Records Management , Public Service Delivery , Public Service Delivery
Alternative Title
Abstract
The article presents the fidings of a study which examined the role of Kenya National
Archives and Documentation Service (KNADS) in the management of records in 18
government ministry headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Data was collected (in 2005)
through questionnaires sent out to 157 registry staff, and through interviews conducted
with 10 senior government offiers and six archive personnel from Nairobi Records
Centre and KNADS headquarters. The research fidings revealed that, even though
KNADS provided records management advice to government departments, the record
creating agencies did not adequately implement this advice.
The study established that KNADS faced various challenges in providing records
management advice to government departments and that this may compromise public
service delivery and the effective management of government information. The challenges that were identifid included: inadequate human and fiancial resources, lack of
support from senior government offiers, low priority accorded to records management
in government departments, lack of regular follow-ups on recordkeeping practices in
departments, and inadequacies in existing records and archives legislation. The study
concluded that KNADS had not effectively helped record-creating agencies to properly
manage their records (largely owing to the constraints it faced). Among the key recommendations of the study is that, given the limited resources available, there is need to
review existing records and archives legislation in order to divide responsibilities for
recordkeeping between KNADS and government departments.
Description
Citation
Kemoni N Henry, Ngulube Patrick (2007) National Archives and the effective Management of Public Sector Records in Kenya. Mousaion 25 (2) 120-140
Publisher
Unisa Press
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
00272639