FIELD ATTACHMENT REPORT CARRIED OUT AT KIAMBU COUNTY GOVERNMENT

(THIKA SUBCOUTY)

PRESENTED BY

NAME: GLORIA WAMBUI WACHIRA

COURSE: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN FINANCIAL ENGINEERING
REG NO: SCM 222-0524/2021
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2024
YEAR OF STUDY: THIRD YEAR

THIS REPORT IS SUBMITTED IN FULLFILMENT OF REQUIREMENT OF INDUSTRIAL

ATTACHMENT UNDERTAKEN BETWEEN: 6TH MAY TO 31ST JULY 2024
DATE OF SUBMISSION:

1
DECLARATION
This report is my creative work and has not been presented for the award of
degree or diploma in any other university and in JKUAT.

Signature: Date:
Name: WACHIRA GLORIA WAMBUI
Reg NO: SCM 222-0524/2021

INDUSTRIAL SUPERVISOR DECLARATION

I YVONNE WAMBUI hereby certify that this industrial attachment report was
written and submitted for examination with my approval as the student industrial
supervisor.
Name: YVONNE WAMBUI
Designation:
Signature: Date/stamp

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to take this opportunity to pass on my sincere gratitude to Kiambu county
government (Thika Sub County) for accepting me to be attached at Finance and
Economics department. I can say it was a nice experience and a good period.

2
Secondly, I would like to thank my industrial trainers Gladys and Damaris and my
supervisor Yvonne Wambui for guiding me through my attachment period,
training me, taking me as one of them by gladly welcoming me and also guiding
me in report preparation and writing.
I also give my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Doctor Boniface Malenje for
assessing my progress during the attachment period which was of great impact.
Also, I want to appreciate Jomo Kenyatta university of Agriculture and Technology
(JKUAT) for playing a great role towards the success of writing this report by
facilitating my studies and guidelines on how to go about it.
Finally, my sincere gratitude to my fellow attaches for being supportive and a
great team during attachment period and also my parents and siblings for
supporting me financially and emotionally throughout the attachment period.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I attended my industrial attachment at Kiambu county government (Thika sub
county) as part of my degree’s program achievement.
Going to the field exposed me to what it is to work like a financial engineer
outside the classroom since it exposed me to the world of a financial engineer.
The attachment taught me some important qualities of a financial engineer which
are very crucial in her career examples of this qualities are accuracy, being timely,
hard work, being loyal to the institution where you are working and being
optimistic in what you are doing.
This report aims to give feedback to my school, Jomo Kenyatta university of
Agriculture and Technology and also to address the importance of attachment to
student according to my personal view of my place of attachment, my experience,
knowledge and skills I have obtained as well as strengths and weakness at site of
attachment.
This report will acknowledge the most important people that made my industrial
attachment and submission of this report successful.

3
DECLARATION: ………………………………………………………………………………………1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: ………………………………………………………………………….2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: ………………………………………………………………………….3
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 History of Thika sub county government …. ……………….5
1.2 Main activities or core activities…………………………………….6
1.3 Vision, mission, and core values…………………………………….7
1.4 Organizational structure……………………………………………….9
1.5 Duties and responsibilities of key personnel…………………10
CHAPTER TWO: HOST DEPARTMENT
2.1 Key functions of the department…………………………………….12
2.2 Staff establishment…………………………………………………………13
CHAPTER THREE: EVALUATION OF ATTACHMENT PERIOD
3.1 Objectives………………………………………………………………….15
3.2 Duties and responsibilities………………………………………….15
3.3 Lessons……………………………………………………………………….16
3.4 Challenges……………………………………………………………………17
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….18
4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS TO THIKA SUBCOUNTY…………….18
4.3 RECOMMENDATION TO THE UNIVERSITY…………………...19
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………….19

4
 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
An industrial attachment is a requirement for one to graduate in JKUAT. The
attachment should be at least two months. It’s a way of exposing student to the
real world of his /her course outside class and theory since its practical. While
having an attachment, the student is under supervision and she is also trained by
the industrial supervisor and the trainers. The university also send an academic
staff to supervise the student and see he/she is performing in the field. This
requires the student to inform the University where they are attached so that
they can prepare how to supervise the student. The student is also required to
write a report after this attachment and hand it over to the Department for
Evaluation.
This report was prepared after undertaking three months industrial attachment at
Kiambu county government (Thika subcounty) and it gives in details of the work
done, skills learned, challenges encountered and the suggested solutions to
challenges encountered where I worked under the direction of my supervisors.

HISTORY OF KIAMBU COUNTY GOVERNMENT (THIKA SUBCOUNTY)

Kiambu county is one of the 47 counties in Kenya after the devolved government
was introduced in Kenya back in the year 2013. It’s ranked to be the county
number 22 with a population of around 2.418 million (2019). Kiambu county has
12 sub counties where Thika is one of them. Kiambu county had the first governor
as William Kabogo who viewed it as a land of prosperity. Then the second
governor was Hon Ferdinand Waitutu, Dr James karanja Nyoro and then the
current governor Dr Kimani Wamatangi. Thika sub county alone has a population
of around 279,429 people (2019) under the leadership of governor of Kiambu
Doctor Kimani Wamatangi. Thika also is a constituency by its own under
leadership of Hon Alice Ng’ang’a with five wards, namely; Township ward,
Kamenu wards, Hospital ward, Gatuanyaga ward and Ngoliba ward.
Thika is a commercial center holding a lot of business example BIDCO,
Supermarkets, Bakeries, Banks, SACCOs, Industries and factories among others.
They all add revenue to the county government for their business permits. It is
5
also an education motivated area holding a lot of schools and universities
example we have Mount Kenya university, Gretsa university and colleges and Tvet
institutions. The county government honors the existence of every individual in
the society which led to establishment of Thika school for blind due to blind cases
and also Thika Muslim primary schools due to Muslim pupils.
Thika sub county is also blessed with natural features such as the forests example
Thika River Forest and water falls example the fourteen falls. These adds money
to the county government due to the taxation and also payment for somethings
such as entrance charges. Thika is also an agricultural area where it is commonly
known as ‘mi wa nanasi’ which means home of pineapples. It has thousands of
acres for pineapple plantation which led to the growth of Delmonte fruit juice
industries which produces pineapple juice. This creates job opportunity for most
of the people living around. These also increases taxations rates to the
government as well as development of the areas where they are located.
Lastly Thika is a very conducive area to stay around Nairobi. It is secure, clean and
cheap. The living standard of Thika is cheaper compared to that of Nairobi and
thus housing most of people working in Nairobi. The distances from Nairobi to
Thika is roughly 42km and with aid of Thika super highway with street lights,
which is an eight- lane super highway, it makes it easy to get to Nairobi. Also,
there are so many vehicles examples; super metro, lopha, neo kenya, kenya mpya
among others to facilitate transportation. This makes Thika to be a home of many
people working in Nairobi having so many estates such as Ngoingwa estate,
Runda estates among others.
CORE OBJECTIVE
1.Make Thika sub county a place conducive for all kind of legal businesses.
2. Create a peaceful environment for business, education and for residence
purposes.
3.To develop this sub county to big place which is good for all kind of businesses.
4.Collect all revenues and taxes where necessary so as to facilitate growth and
development.
5.To ensure there is peace and harmony between citizens and the government.

6
6.To create employment to most of the people so as to avoid idleness.
THE VISION AND MISSION OF THIKA SUBCOUNTY
MISSION
Provide success and prosperity for everyone in safe and harmonious county
VISION
The Best County to Grow, Live and Work.
CORE PILLARS
The following five strategic pillars guides in transformation of Thika sub county;
1.Security
Everyone should be safe and secure all time.
2.EMPLOYMENT
Everyone gainfully engaged in wealth creation.
3.EDUCATION
Everyone gains the skills and competence needed to grow the sub county.
4.HEALTH
Everyone accesses affordably, good health care with ease.
5.URBAN PLANNING
Everywhere looking fabulous

CORE VALUES
Thika sub county is committed to upholding the following core values as guiding
principles of their works.
 Hardworking: Working smart and hard so as to achieve the best of the sub
county.

7
 Punctuality: Being in time in every activity makes it easy to ensure easy and
fast running of day-to-day activities. To create punctuality, employees are
always encouraged to keep time while doing anything in the offices.

 Timely: To ensure everything is done in time employees are encouraged

to work on their tasks based on the time given to them and also to work on
their tasks thoroughly to ensure the best output.

 Team work: Treat one another with respect and communicate openly.
Share out any issue which is challenging to your workmates. Create a
workplace that ensures full contribution and participation of all the
employees.
 Integrity: Honesty and sincerity are an integral part of their operations
which they uphold throughout their working period there.

8
1.1.4 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

GOVERNOR

DEPUTY GOVERNOR

COUNTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE(CECs)

CHIEF OFFICIALS

DIRECTORS

ASSISTANT DIRECTORS

DEPARTMENTAL HEADS(HODs)

OTHER OFFICIALS

SUPPORT STAFF

9
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF KEY PERSONNELS
1.THE GOVERNOR
He is the head of the county government. According to the constitution, the
governor:
 He takes and subscribe to an oath or affirmation as set out in schedule to
this act before assuming the office.
 He submits the county plans and polices to this county assembly for
approval.
 He represents county in natural and international fora and events.
 He chairs the meetings of county executive committee.
 He considers, approve and assent to bills passed by county assembly.
2.THE DEPUTY GOVERNOR
The county deputy governor represents the governor in his absentia.

There are some several key personnel in our offices but being a financial student, I
mostly interacted with finance officials.
3.FINANCE OFFICER
He is the head of the department of finance who is in charge of all the finance. He
has some several duties:
 He prepares the annual budget.
 Taking initial action on budget monitoring.
 Assisting county government entities.
 Compile financial estimates.
 Preparation of budget implementations.
 Coordination of county budgeting.
 Development of revenue administrates.
 General office administration functions.

10
 2.VALUER
The office has around three valuers who value the rates. They are mostly
concerned with the land rates, land valuations, certificate of clearance in case you
want to transfer your land among others.
2.ACCOUNTANTS
The office has several accountants who are mostly involved in accounting of the
constituency money.
3.ASSISTANT ACCOUNTANTS
They assisted the accountants in there works such as data entry, reconciliation,
preparation of financial statements.

11
 CHAPTER TWO: HOST DEPARTMENT
Being a financial student, I was attached at the department of Finance and
Economics where they deal with finances. It was established on 4 th march 2013 by
H.E William Kabogo. Prior to devolved government, the department existed in
different form under defund local government and national government. The staff
who are there were drawn from the defunct Authorities which existed in Kiambu
county and devolved staff from the former ministry of planning National
development and vision 2030. The department has more than 530 staffs largely
consisting of the finance officers, accountants, procurement officers, internal
auditors and economists statistians among other.
Vision
To be a strategic leader in financial management and economic planning.
Mission
To be an effective and efficient department in resource mobilization,
management of resources, economic planning and coordination for a safe and
harmonious county.
Core values
Professional integrity.
Transparency and accountability.
Passion for results.
Customer orientation.
Innovation.
Ethical standards.
Commitment to the welfare of employees.
2.1 KEY FUNCTIONS OF DEPARTMENT
Finance department mostly deals on ways of getting revenues and how to ensure
good usage of the finances collected. The following are some of the key functions
of this department:

12
 1. Identifying appropriate sources of revenues.
The county government generates revenues through various sources where most
of them are taxes including:
 Property rates: taxes levied on property owners based on the value of their
properties.
 Business permits and licenses: fees collected from business operating
within the sub county.
 Land rates: taxes imposed on landowners based on the value and size of
their land.
 Market fees: charges collected from traders operating in market within the
sub county.
 Parking fees: charges levied on vehicles parked in designated areas.
 Entertainment taxes: fees imposed on entertainment venues, events and
activities.
 Trading license and fees: fees collected from small-scale traders and
hawkers.

2.Ensuring proper revenue utilization and accountability

The revenue generated from taxes and fees collected in Thika sub county is
utilized for various purposes where the chief head of finances has to sign in
agreement that he is aware of the task going on. The accountant also has to
account for the funds being used and how it is being used. The funds are
used for various things such as;
 Infrastructure development – funding construction infrastructures and
maintenance of roads, bridges and other public.
 Social welfare – provision of social programs and initiatives.
 Economic growth – supporting business growth, entrepreneurship.
 Administrative and governance-financing operations of county government.

3.Enforcement of revenue collection

The finance department employs various measures to ensure efficient revenue
collection and compliance including;

13
  Revenue collection points: designated locations where taxpayers can
payments for different taxes and fees.
 Compliance and enforcement: regular inspections, audit and enforcement.
 Electronic payments system: the introduction of electronic payments
platforms to facilitate convenient and transparent transactions.

4.Recording and keeping financial records

The finance departments must keep a clear record of all the financial reports.
This is to ensure easy accessibility of this records if needed. The financial
statements which are mostly recorded are invoices, petty cash flows, journals,
balance sheets, income statement among others. These reports are also
needed while doing financial reconciliation.
5.Coordination of county budgeting process
This department writes down the budget explaining the importance of
everything in the budget and how much does it cost.

2.2 STAFF ESTABLISHMENT

The finance office in finance and economics department consists of five divisions
of staff members who work hand in hand to complete the tasks and activities
required by Thika sub county. They include:
The finance officer
He holds financial reins of council, ensuring resources are directed towards
priorities.
Internal auditors
They examine the sub county documents and data to identify issues like
regulatory noncompliance, data inaccuracies and employed theft.

Procurement officers
14
They are responsible for assessing products, services and suppliers and
negotiating contracts. They are responsible for ensuring that approved purchases
are of a sufficient quality and are cost efficient.
Economists and statistians
They collect, process, compile, and disseminate statistics concerning the economy
of Thika sub county.
Accountants
They review and analyses financial records, keep track of the sub county’s
revenues, expenditures and tax liabilities. They are also involved in project
planning, cost analysis, auditing and financial decisions making.

CHAPTER THREE: EVALUATION OF ATTACHMENT PERIOD

15
This evaluation serves as a platform to assess my alignment between my initial
learning objectives, practical encounters and the resulting outcomes.
3.1 OBJECTIVES
1. To integrate theory with practice.
2. To understand the role of finance persons in an organization.
3. To integrate IT and finance.
4. To know which are the main sources of revenues in sub county government
offices.
5. To understand the role of financial department in making decisions in office

6. To know how the valuer operates.

7. To be able to write and balance the financial statements of a sub county
offices.
8. To understand how the budget is written and under what circumstances is
it implemented.
9. To be able to write official ledger accounts and journals and balance them
well.

3.2 DUTIES AND RESPOSIBILITIES

The following are specific duties undertaken during the attachment period;
1. Week 1: From 6/5/2024-11/5/2024
 I did data entry where I was recording financial reports
of April this year.
 I arranged the invoices based on the way of
transactions.
2. Week 2: From 13/5/2024-18/5/2024
 I did data entry for the month of March
 I arranged the data well for reconciliation purposes.
 I learnt how to do reconciliation.
3. Week 3: from 20/5/2024-25/5/2024
 I did reconciliation of the month of February.

16
  I was taught on how detect interest risk and risk
exposures
 I did data entry for that week.
4. Week 4: from 27/5/2024-1/6/2024
 This week I did most of the task allocated to me
personally.
 I did print photocopying and learnt how to make a
poster.
5. Week 5: from 3/6/2024-8/6/2024
 I did reconciliation of December.
 I recorded some financial reports which were not
recorded with others like parking charges.
6. Week 6: from 10/6/2024-15/6/2024
 This week I prepared some financial reports; the income
statement, balance sheet, cash flow and helped in
writing a journal.
 I did a presentation of the financial reports I had
prepared via a poster.
7. Week 7: from 17/6/2024-22/6/2024
 I was managing the financial reports for conclusion of
the financial year.
 I arranged them well to ensure easy accessibility if they
are needed for any clarifications.
8. Week 8: from 24/6/2024-29/6/2024
 I was on field this week where I was shown how to
collect taxes despite the protests.
 I recorded financial data for that week and some few
data entry.

3.3 LESSONS
An industrial attachment, being a very important task for a student in higher
learning institution teaches students some important lessons. These lessons

17
prepare the student better for their career journey. The following are some of the
lessons I learned in Thika sub county government offices;
 Teamwork: which makes work to be done faster, easily and accurately.
 Being punctual and timely: while working on something you have to keep
time to avoid failing submitting the work on time. You are also supposed to
observe time when you get to work and meetings to avoid being late and
losing some important discussions
 Being loyal to your work and organization you are working for: finances
are very crucial to every organization and this calls for one to be disciplined
enough to keep all information safely within themselves.
 Human relation: in the office one has to relate well with your workmates
and also with the people you are serving. This leads to teamwork and easy
time while serving people.
I also went for field work together with the procurement students which was a
nice experience.

3.3 CHALLENGES
Despite having a successful and fruitful attachment period there were few
challenges I encountered here and there including;
 Inaccurate data about revenues collected.
 Some of the invoices were missing.
 Power shortage at some times
 Protests and demonstrations which gave us fear.
 Despite having a nice period, I faced personal problems I had to cater for
my transport charges and there were no allowances for lunch or tea.

18
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMEDATION
4.1 CONCLUSION
The well supervised attachment of university gave me the opportunity to put
what I have learnt in class into practice. It exposed me work methods which are
essential in my career life. It made to understand deeply what my career entails
and this helped me prepare for the future career life which calls for submission,
accuracy, handwork and punctuality.
The training was effective to me since it exposed me to real word of a financial
engineer outside classroom. This period with Thika sub county has made me gain
a lot of practical knowledge and experience as a financial engineer as well as
enriching me with important interactions with the finance world.
The training has instilled me some essential morals in life of a financial engineer
such as being submissive, punctual, loyal, timely, accurate and enhancing team
work. It made me reach my objectives and making it possible to achieve them all.
It greatly equipped me with management skills, self-motivation and good
interpretational skills.
I can confidently say that this attachment program should therefore be
maintained so that students can learn more about their career outside books as it
has been excellent and rewarding experience and I hope other attaches achieved
as much as I did.
I have been able to grow an interest in Financial Engineering as the training made
a good integration of what I have been learning from school to outside world of
work.
4.2 RECOMMEDATIONS TO THIKA SUB COUNTY
 Thika sub county should work on their system well that is the computers,
the power system so as to make sure data is not lost in case of black outs
and also to avoid delays.

19
 Thika sub county should provide the attaches with allowances for lunch,
tea and transport so as to motivate them.

4.3 RECOMMEDATIONS TO JKUAT

 The university best understand the courses of the student and therefore
look for an attachment places for them where they will be perfectly
trained according to their courses.
 This also applies to some of the organization where the students apply for
attachment but their requests are declined and most of them end up not
being attached and others in places where they are not appropriately
trained.

4.4 REFERENCES
 Kiambu county government publications.
 Thika sub county, the finance, ICT and economics department.
 Kiambu county development profile.

20