On Wednesday, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration wrote to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) asking it to create a conducive environment for Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Saroj Guragain to work.

The ministry made the request after receiving a complaint that Saroj Guragain, who was assigned KMC’s CAO by the ministry, was not allowed to perform his duties at his office.

Guragain had submitted a written complaint to the ministry stating that he had not been allowed to work since December 23. In response, the ministry urged the metropolis office to ensure a proper work environment for him. In his complaint, Guragain reportedly claimed that KMC Mayor Balendra Shah locked his office, preventing him from working and made several false accusations against him.

But replying to the ministry on Thursday, Mayor Shah asserted that the metropolis can’t allow Guragain to work at the office because questions were raised about his involvement in irregularities and the matter was under investigation.

The KMC has accused Guragain of bypassing the formal approval system and due process while endorsing the construction plan for Kathmandu Tower at the Old Bus Park area and formed a probe panel to investigate his decisions.

Mayor Shah formed the investigation committee over Guragain’s decision under the leadership of Shankar Prasad Pandey, a former secretary of the Nepal government. Shah has yet to receive the report.

Despite the ministry’s request to the KMC to create a conducive environment for Guragain to work, the KMC has yet to decide whether to continue Guragain as CAO, said KMC spokesperson Nabin Manandhar. “KMC is yet to decide about the matter,” Manandhar said.

The dispute between the elected representatives and the chief administrative office at Kathmandu Metropolis is just a representative case of conflicts of similar nature happening around the country.

For instance, in Chitwan’s Rapti Municipality, at least eight CAOs have been changed over the past three years after the local-level election in May 2022. The municipality got Hari Prasad Adhikari as the latest chief administrative officer just a month ago.

Shamsher Lama, who won the position of mayor from the CPN (Unified Socialist), blamed “the government’s intention to create problems” for frequent changes of CAO in the municipality over the past three years.

“Despite being affiliated to a small political party, I have performed well and the federal government led by big political parties have been threatened by my performance,” Mayor Lama said. “They intentionally changed the CAO.”

Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang frequently gets engaged in arguments with CAO and other employees of the local government.

The frequent tussles between the local representatives and government employees are affecting administrative works, service delivery and developmental activities.

The problem is so rampant that of the total 753 local governments, at least 220 are being run with acting CAOs, according to Kali Prasad Parajuli, spokesperson for the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. The ministry is responsible for deploying civil servants across the country.

“Often, immediate subordinate officials also oversee the duty of the chief administrative officer so as to run the office smoothly even if the position is vacant,” Parajuli said. “In metropolitan and sub-metropolitan cities, joint secretaries are deputed as CAO, but in many instances, undersecretaries perform the role.”

Among the six metropolitan cities, Biratnagar and Birgunj currently do not have a CAO. Five of 11 sub-metropolitan cities are run by acting officials, while only six have officers appointed per the designated structure. The situation is similar in municipalities and rural municipalities.

Surprisingly, even when a CAO is appointed, they do not last long. They are often transferred within months if they fail to work in line with the local representatives. Some local governments even refuse to allow officials to work if they do not favour their interests.

Elected representatives at the local level are granted significant powers by the laws and the constitution formulated in line with the federal system.

At times, the elected representatives want support of civil servants to serve their vested interest, due to which tussle occurs, says Shankar Prasad Pandey, a former secretary of the Nepal government.

“No CAO and staff would risk their job to serve the interests of local leaders, due to which they are often transferred, resulting in instability in the local government,” Pandey said.

Echoing Pandey, Rapti Municipality Mayor Lama adds that some local representatives intentionally put pressure on the staff to serve their interests and that leads to a tussle.

“But in our municipality’s case, the government’s intention is behind the frequent change of CAO,” Lama reiterated.

An officer from the federal ministry offers one more reason behind such vacancies of the post in local governments. “The problem also occurs when employees do not want to work where they are assigned,” the officer said, requesting anonymity.

Manandhar, the KMC spokesperson, says that while a CAO wants to work based on legal grounds, local representatives mostly want to work to meet the public demand as soon as possible. “In such a situation, tussles are inevitable,” he said.