County governments have been asked to resolve disputes with other institutions through the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee.
“Litigations are costly and time-wasting," IGRTC interim chairperson John Burugu said in Naivasha and appealed to counties to avoid courts in dispute resolution.
Burugu commended the Nairobi county government for choosing to sort out a road closure issue with the Department of Defence through the IGRTC.
The Kenya Defence Forces had closed the Mihango-Kayole road to the public in 2016, leading to protests. The road was reopened after negotiations.
Burugu said they had also resolved a row between City Hall and the national government over meat inspection revenue. The disputants resolved the matter through an MoU revenue sharing formula.
He was addressing a four-day capacity building workshop on alternative dispute resolution for the new IGRTC members and technical team
He told the participants that ADR was a core principle of the Constitution.
“There have been rampant disputes in the government and it is important for the key players to know that IGRTC exists to assist in finding solutions before the parties go to court," he said, citing power distribution and functions as provided for in the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution as among the causes.
The other causes are the transfer of functions, application of policies and legislation not aligned to the Articles 174 and 175 of the Constitution, county boundaries, revenues and human capital relations.
Burugu said there are 17 ongoing ADR cases, among them Tharaka Nithi versus the Prisons department, Kiambu versus Postal Corporation of Kenya, Kericho and Kisumu counties over revenue, Taita Taveta county versus Kenya Wildlife Service over Tsavo East and West parks revenue.
A contractor has also filed a dispute with IGRTC against Kwale county.
“ADR policy is a significant step in achieving reforms not only in the Judiciary, but also Kenya’s endeavour towards the fulfilment, respect, observance, promotion and protection of the right to access justice," Burugu said.
The cost of ADR is minimal compared to that of litigations, he added.
The workshop targets to empower the eight-member IGRTC team with ADR mechanisms on adjudication, arbitration, negotiations and resolutions in resolving disputes.
- mwaniki fm
