Designing a retention a disposition schedule for the registry at the Ministry of Local Government

Abstract

An effective records retention and disposition program is essential to successful records management, which is an integral part of information resources management. Ministry’s like any other organizations and government agencies, need to retain records beyond current use needs, according to regulatory, legal, financial and operational requirements. A records retention and disposal schedule also known as a records disposal schedule is a systematic listing or description of an organizations records which indicates the arrangements to be made for their custody, retention and final disposition. Good records management practices and the provision of retention and disposition schedules in an organization is very important and the ability of government departments to sustain effective service delivery, accountability and good governance is largely determined by their records management practices. The main aim of the project was to review the existing retention and disposition schedule, find out its defects in order to design and implement an effective records retention and disposition schedule for the registry at the ministry of local government. To achieve the above aim, the study was guided by the project objectives which included; to identify the various types of records at the ministry of local government, to examine the effectiveness of the retention and disposition schedule at the ministry of local government and to design and implement an effective retention and disposition schedule for the registry at the ministry of local government. The project involved processes of gathering data through interaction with records management staff at the ministry. Information was gathered using tools such as the interview guide and observation guide. The data collected was very comprehensive and thus led to the design of a proper retention and disposition schedule.