Workshop on NAMATA’s Internal Governance organized by CODATU in Nairobi

As part of the technical cooperation between NaMATA and CODATU, funded via the French Development Agency’s FEXTE fund, a workshop on the authority’s internal governance has been organized from Monday 5^th to Wednesday 7^th of December.

Created by Executive Order in 2017, NaMATA, the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, has been established, among others, to implement and coordinate an integrated metropolitan-wide public transport system, including the creation of a Bus Rapid Transit network, the rehabilitation and extension of the urban rail network (commuter rail line) and the coordination of a Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) system.

If the authority is endowed with a wide panel of competences, it is facing difficulties in affirming and operationalizing its missions: fragmented and complex institutional landscape; insufficient financial resources; limited internal expertise and absence of its own human resources – NaMATA’s team was solely composed of detached staff until recently -… The authority has thus focused, as of now, on the implementation of its BRT network, with the operational pilot phase of its first line (line 2) to be started in the coming months.

However, and as its responsibilities broaden, NaMATA has been able to implement a transition plan, equipping the authority with its own human resources and bringing additional staff, including a new director Operations. A complementary recruitment plan, funded by a European Union Grant and coordinated by AFD and CODATU as part of the line 3 of the BRT project, is also about to be implemented for the project delivery period and its first year of operation.

This rapid evolution of NaMATA is the opportunity to launch a reflection on its present and future internal governance. The workshop, facilitated by our senior expert, François-Xavier Périn, and our cooperation officer, Laure Lefébure, was the occasion to initiate a joint discussion within NaMATA on the authority’s strategic vision, action priorities, internal structure and needed competences to successfully perform its projects.

Based on studies, benchmarks and joint reflection, participants have been able to start clarifying NaMATA’s mandate, defining objectives for the next one and four years, particularly via the review of its yearly Performance Contract, and initiate a discussion around the organogram and its future evolution.

These discussions have also provided the opportunity to refine the future recruitment plan funded by the EU, and address a variety of issues, including contracting, the structure of the future Bus Operating Company, or the international standards regarding the implementation of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan.

CODATU’s team thanks the participants and is looking forward to further collaboration on the subject!