The Council of Governors has initiated a Constitutional Reforms program dubbed “Ugatuzi Initiative”. This follows consultations to consider and propose revision of the Constitution of Kenya with the aim of strengthening devolution . Ugatuzi proposes amendments in the areas of sharing of revenue raised nationally and from natural resources, governance, security, elections and strengthening political parties among others. Among the critical recommendations, the initiative proposes, is a structure that supports a national executive comprising of the President as the Head of State, Deputy President and a Prime Minister as the head of government with two Deputy Prime Ministers. Furthermore, the initiative calls for the independence of the Office of the Attorney General with security of tenure, proposes that each County should have it’s own County Attorney and Law office as well as County Gazette to deal with specific legal matters and legislation.Ugatuzi proposes that the Senate shall consider all bills including the one on Revenue sharing. In addition, the Senate shall be involved in the approval of international treaties. On equitable sharing of National Revenue, the Council of Governors proposes that for every financial year, the equitable share of revenue raised nationally for County Governments should not be less than 45% of the previous year’s revenue collected by National Government.
In reference to the last 6 years since Devolution started, the Council through Ugatuzi have proposed the filling of a vacancy in the office of the deputy governor with the approval of the County Assembly. Similarly, provide for ground and procedures for removal of the Deputy Governor. In regards to the ever rising cases of insecurity being experienced in most parts of the counties, Ugatuzi calls for County representation in the National Security Council and the formation of the County Policing Authority as established in the constitution. With this in place, each County will then establish its own County Police Service.
Following the address to the media by the Chairman of the Council of Governors H.E Wycliffe Oparanya, the Council will move further to discuss the details for input in t0 the bill and the roadmap on the public participation to shed more light to the public on the proposed amendments. The Chairs of the Committee Prof. Kivutha Kibwana, and H.E. Kiraitu Murungi, Governors Makueni and Meru County respectively will spearhead the process in the phases to come.
The Physical and Land Use Planning Act 2019 confers the Cabinet Secretary for Lands and Physical planning the role of making regulations on the Physical land use and planning with the view of making regulations for the classification and inter county projects. In this regard, physical and land use planning prescribes the appropriate use of land to ensure that there is harmony, efficiency, productivity, equity, aesthetically appealing human settlements and ultimately a sustainable environment for the current and future generations. This is achieved through application of policies and standards, design of inter relationship of activities as well as preparation, enforcement of plans and regulation of physical and land use profession.
The Ministry of Lands Physical Planning and Urban Development coordinated a stakeholder engagement session in the development of regulations that will classify strategic inter county projects. Prior to this discussions Directors and CECMs from the Lands and Infrastructure department in the Counties held meetings to give input to the draft document whose overall outlook seemed to claw back on the spirit of devolution. For instance under development control, implementation and monitoring section 69 categorization of projects the draft noted that the Cabinet Secretary was to be in charge of metropolitan area sect 4 of 69. All this sections are however devolved functions and thus converting the regulations spatially will take up the roles and responsibilities of counties.
The discussions were kick started through stakeholder meeting involving all sector players supported by the FAO. In the meeting officiated by the Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Planning Mr. Gideon Mung’aro urged all players to add value into the draft document in order to ensure that projects implemented by both levels of government are properly coordinated.
County Governments represented by the CEC Lands and Physical Planning Kericho County, Mr. Ngeno Barnabas decried the manner in which the regulations were prepared without the involvement of Counties. He further called upon adequate time for the CoG and Counties to hold meaningful discussions to enrich the document so that the functions of both levels of government in implementing the regulations are clearly stipulated.
Thereafter, after several discussions with the Directors, the Chief Executive Committee members, both National and County Government representative jointly reviewed the regulations to look into how projects that are in essence devolved but have to be implemented at both levels of government can be mutually developed.
FAO representative Ms. Ursla noted that in the realization of Vision 2030 and the Constitution of Kenya 2010 FAO was ready to support processes of land use. “The urge to improve towns and infrastructure is quite high especially with the advent of devolution. Hence we need to put up measures to avoid getting to the extreme of climate change”, she said.
The meeting appreciated that in the design of the regulations, both levels of government are distinct and inter dependent and this same spirit needed be embraced. The draft regulations were forwarded to the Principal Secretary Ministry of Lands for further consideration and review through public participation.
Other participants in this discussions include; County Attorneys, Kenya Power and Lighting Company, Kenya Wildlife Services, Kenya Airports Authority, Communications Authority, Kenya Institute of Planners, Survey of Kenya, Institute of Surveyors Kenya, Kenya National Highway Authority.
Previously, CECs Lands, Urban development, Planning and Housing in a consultative meeting reviewed the Built Environment Bill and the Slum Upgrading and Prevention Bill.
The Built Environment Bill addresses issues such as a lack of a comprehensive legislation for building control, lack of a legally enforceable building regulation in Kenya, lack a legal framework at the moment to address dangerous buildings that pose a threat to life as well as a limited capacity for building control functions at the county levels. It therefore seeks to establish standards and practices relating to building, maintenance and associated works. It also establishes the National Buildings Inspectorate for auditing of buildings, preparing building manuals and certifying and accredited checkers and technical assistance and capacity for building for counties.
The Slum upgrading and Prevention Bill on the other hand was brought by the need for people to have a fundamental right to live with basic dignity and in decent conditions. As is often said “If slums are allowed to deteriorate, governments can lose control of the populace and slums become areas of crime and disease that impact the whole city”. The upgrading efforts would help to create a dynamic community where there is a sense of ownership, entitlement and inward investment in the area. One of the key elements of slum upgrading is legalizing or regularizing properties and bringing secure land tenure to residents. The Bill will therefore provide for upgrading and re-development of slums, put in place measures to prevent further development of slums and provide for institutional and funding framework.
Faith-Based Organizations and private sectors play a critical complementary role in the provision of affordable quality health services in the country. The current, health situation in Kenya necessitates partnerships to bridge resource gaps both financial and technical in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage. On this account, the Council of Governors calls for measures to enhance structured stakeholder consultations which are key in guiding and enabling sector partnerships and joint health sector coordination and planning.
On 10th September 2019, a meeting between the Council of Governors and representatives from Faith-Based Organizations and the Private Sector was called to explore areas of partnership with the view of addressing the existing gaps. Some of the representatives’ present included Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK), Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) Secretariat, Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS), Women 4 Cancer, Avenue Hospital, Consolata Mission Hospital, PCEA Kikuyu and Litein Hospital was held 10th September 2019.
The meeting sought to provide a platform for networking opportunities, learning and sharing best practices and creating a forum for linkages and partnership on health matters between the County Governments, Faith-Based Organizations and the private sector in health service delivery. It noted that Faith-Based Organizations and private players in the health sector such as the Avenue Hospital and Consolata Mission Hospital have over many years successfully managed their health facilities, shared information on best practices on delivering sustainable quality health services and enhanced partnership. These are some of the practices that County Governments seek to tap into and will benefit from in this kind of partnerships.
The successful implementation of Universal Health Coverage requires that partners come and work together to deliver to the citizens. Thus, participants looked at the need for low-cost affordable service delivery, enrollment of the communities into NHIF, sharing of specialists, annual upgrading of equipment for quality and efficient service delivery, advanced technologies, support from County Governments in areas of Human resource, supplies and equipment and increased revenue generation.
The meeting, however noted that over the years the private sector and FBOs have faced challenges such as delayed remittance from NHIF, bureaucracy in-licensing of facilities, human resource gap, erratic supplies from KEMSA, taxation of medical equipment, disaster management and infrastructure among others.
The meeting was concluded with the way forward being that there is a need to; pursue strategic partnership opportunities with private firm’s e.g. Turkish firm KAYI which deals with diagnostic equipment, direct engagement with NHIF management on issues raised on NHIF mainly on delayed reimbursements, leverage on the learning opportunities from the meeting such as health
management information systems, telemedicine and cash management systems and organize a follow-up meeting after the signing of an MOU between Counties, COG, FBOs and MOH.
The devolved system of government in Kenya as envisioned by the constitution of 2010 offers a unique opportunity for cascading not only government services to the grassroots level but also the prospects of responding to climate. The County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) that were developed at the onset of devolution and submitted in 2013 contained a wealth of information, providing an analysis of economic, social and environmental factors to guide development plans and projects which included the existential response to climate change.
The report from the StARCK+ Climate Change Technical Assistance to the Government of Kenya programme in 2017 examined how the 47 CIDPs integrated climate change. The objectives of the research were among others to provide insights on how climate change was addressed by the various counties and recommend actions to improve the mainstreaming of climate change in the next 2nd generation CIDPs that were being developed for the second cycle of development.
The report revealed that Adaptation actions were a priority for many counties, consistent with the National Climate Change Action Plan 2013-2017 (NCCAP) that stated that adaptation is the priority for Kenya. Thirty-nine CIDPs identified adaptation actions including: awareness creation and capacity building to improve understanding of and action on climate change, sustainable agriculture (including conservation agriculture, irrigation and improved livestock practices), and improved access to water, establishment of early warning systems, and water catchment conservation and protection
Some counties, with support from development partners have made substantial progress in the implementing the original intentions and moved on to expand their climate responsiveness. The Counties of Garissa, Kitui and Isiolo enacted their County Climate Change Finance (CCCF) legislation. All five counties now have a legal framework to access climate finance and support investments in public goods that build local adaptation to climate change. Garissa, Wajir and Isiolo have CCCF Acts enacted by the county assemblies committing a minimum of 2% of their development budget to the CCCF kitty while Kitui and Makueni have CCCF Regulations committing a minimum of 1% of their development budget to the same. Counties will use the CCCF allocations to leverage funding from other sources to ensure predictable and sustainable funding streams for climate change activities. They have not only used this as a basis to attract funding from bilateral partners but also set a pace for other counties to emulate.
Further, the Council of Governors in partnership with Braced held Climate Change mainstreaming workshop to provide knowledge management and communications support on climate change governance and management to CoG staff. The aim was to help increase the ability of communications staff in CoG to boost awareness of climate change and increase the knowledge base on climate change in the Maarifa centre.
In addition, through the partnership, the team had an opportunity to visit some of the counties to review how they mainstreamed climate change. The team visited, Meru and Uasin Gishu, there was a variance in terms of progress made in terms of Climate change response. In Meru, they noted that the county had taken major steps in the implementation of climate change Adaption, particularly in identifying actions that address mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions within the county. Meru County has also taken serious steps to implement actions in increasing forest cover through tree planting, restoration and rehabilitation of degraded forests, and reducing emissions from deforestation. They also promote agroforestry and use of renewable energy.
Uasin Gishu County, also referred to as the breadbasket of Kenya has been known to have high and reliable rainfall for a long time. The county Government has been leading in the process of Climate change response through awareness programmes to local farmers and offering free advice on farm inputs. At the same time the local government has gazetted all the water catchment areas in a bid to conserve and restore them. There are numerous projects around the county on water conservation in addition to the promotion of the use of green energy particularly solar. The county has also been promoting afforestation through the planning of indigenous trees by establishing tree nurseries in strategic places across the county. A tour of some the areas in the county revealed substantial efforts in the various activities in climate response. The County is keen in ensuring that response to Climate is done promptly and that residents recognize of the effects of Climate Change.
The International Conference on Population development, to be officially flagged off by President Uhuru Kenyatta, will this year be held from the 12- 14th of November 2019, at KICC, Nairobi. Otherwise known as ICPD +25, this year marks its 25th Anniversary since it was first held in Cairo, Egypt where the countries in attendance developed an ICPD Programme of Action recognizing reproductive health, women’s empowerment and gender equality as the pathway to achieving sustainable development. All these were in an effort to put population issues at the centre of human development hence focusing on improving the well- being of citizens.
While in Cairo, the 179 countries in attendance made commitments that are in line with the 5 thematic areas that will be guiding the much anticipated summit including; Universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, ending gender based violence, upholding the right to sexual and reproductive health care, drawing on economic diversity to drive economic growth and achieve sustainable development as well as financing required to complete the ICPD programme of Action. In light of the Summit’s theme; Accelerating the promise; countries will be sitting to review how far they have gone in as far as those commitments are concerned and to also make commitments as to how the goals that are yet to be achieved will be realized.
When Kenya adopted the devolved system of governance, the devolved units; the counties, were given their share of functions among them; health and Gender which are at the heart of ICPD. Various counties have made remarkable strides in family planning, reduced FGM, improved maternal health care, county level policy on GBV as seen in Nakuru, Garrisa, Isiolo Kakamega and Meru counties respectively, among others.
There will therefore be exhibitions where counties will showcase their achievements in these areas since 2013. The Council of Governors shall also host side events for counties and also for the youth as well as population experts who will shed light on the findings and achievements made in population matters over the past 25 years among other activities.
The event will be a platform for member states to advance implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action by taking stock of the positive outcomes of the 25 years, the existing gaps and addressing the challenges that are hindering rapid progress. The priviledge to host this event comes in handy as a reminder not only to the existing structures but also to everyone to work towards achieving these commitments for a better living.
County Governments are a major stakeholder of the Health sector, health being a devolved function in Kenya. The just concluded Kenya Health Forum, an annual event that brings together all stakeholders in the health sector, was an opportune forum for stakeholders in the sector to discuss the performance of the sector in the country.
Under the theme ‘Partnering for UHC: Delivering affordable quality healthcare for all,’ the two-day forum brought together the National and County governments, development partners, private sectors and other non-state actors to discuss how Kenya can deliver affordable quality health care and achieve UHC.
In addition to the universal health coverage goal commitment by President Uhuru Kenyatta which seeks to provide affordable health care for all, County Governments also demonstrate commitment to improving health of the people of Kenya especially through the devolution space and the paradigm shift that this dispensation brought to the health sector.
Speaking on behalf of the Chairman, Council of Governors, H.E. James Ongwae reiterated the efforts by County Governments to expand the diversity of services being provided. “We have focused on strengthening all the building blocks of the health systems and through partnerships, expanding the diversity of the health services provided in order to be responsive to the population needs and emerging diseases”, said the Human resources and labour relations committee Chairman.
Governor Ongwae added that Counties have focused on strengthening all the building blocks of the health systems and through partnerships, expanding the diversity of the health services provided in order to be responsive to the population needs and emerging diseases as well as incrementally invested in strengthening primary health care and revamping community health services through legislation and allocation of the necessary resources.
The forum break away panel discussions were structured in 6 thematic areas namely; Health financing, Quality of Care, Health Data, Research and Information use, Health Commodities and Technology, Human Resources for Health, Leadership, Governance and Partnerships which resulted into a number of key resolutions on issues in health service delivery including; Increasing health worker availability and accessibility from and in underserved populations; implementation of the existing ‘Guideline on Cross sharing of Specialists in the Health Sector’ across the 47 counties; accelerating dialogue on the need to establish a Health Services Commission, providing incentives for retention and equitable deployment, increase county funding to PHC including Community Health Services, among other key recommendations.
“The constitutional architecture of our country demands of us to cultivate and nurture formidable cooperation and partnership between two levels of Government. Both national and county governments have defined roles that are critical and symbiotic in the delivery of health services. For Universal Health Coverage to succeed in Kenya, we must make investments in all health building blocks. Key amongst them Human Resources and Health products and technologies.” said Health Cabinet Secretary Mrs Sicily Kariuki.
The second day of the forum focused on recapping the proposed actions from day one's discussions which fed into the event's action plan which consisted of a set of priority actions identified under each of the key thematic areas. The proposed actions are to be presented to top leadership levels for consideration.
The Council of Governors in partnership with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) with support from UN Women on 6th August 2019 launched the Gender Data Sheets at the Intercontinental Hotel.
Kenya is still facing challenges in socioeconomic development specifically challenges in data handling, lack of access to data to inform development programs and weak policies. These challanges have been addressed by the datasheet. The chief guest Deputy Governor Kajiado County, H.E Martin Moshisho Martine, in his address emphasized that the data currently available to Counties cannot be used to make decisions especially in implementing policies that support gender moainstreaming in our counties. “Inclusion of the needs of all Kenyans, regardless of their gender, in development programming is a key step towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals leading to the call “Leaving No One Behind” he said.
The exercise of compiling County specific gender data sheets for the pilot project commenced in September 2018 in ten counties - Baringo, Kisumu, Kakamega, Turkana, Kitui, Kilifi, Bomet, Kirinyaga, Marsabit and Meru. The projects was to ensure that gender mainstreaming efforts are deepened to institutionalize the gender function at the County level and focused on several components ranging from Population per household, health, Education, leadership and gender equality index among other revealing gender disparities.
Council of Governors CEO Jacqueline Mogeni in her address expressed her pleasure in the Council’s participation in the development of the gender data sheets exercise as the information will help counties plan better moving forward. “This exercise has come at the opportune time. Counties are expected to inform gender mainstreaming strategies during the mid-term review of the County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) 2018-2022 which will take place in 2020,” She said. During her address, she informed participants that through the gender committee, the Council is working with County Governments to streamline gender into open government commitments including a focus on political participation & holding governments accountable for the treatment & status of women& girls.
The Global Gender Gap Report 2017 ranks Kenya at number 76 out of 144 globally with significant inequalities between males and females in education attainment health outcomes, representation in parliamentary, participation in the labor market among other spheres. The Gender Data Sheets empower the counties remedy these inequalities and subsequently result in the improved standards of living for their residents.
The Data Sheets will also allow counties to incorporate considerations in commitment & opportunities to integrate a gender focus when designing commitments like gender-disaggregated data for specific public services. Most importantly the data empowers counties to understand effects of commitments like how many of their commitments are explicitly gender- mainstreamed verses
which commitments have differential gender impacts and how these impacts might be mitigated
In 2018, Kenya committed to set aside 30 percent of public procurement opportunities for women, youth, and people with disabilities. With Gender-Disaggregated Data counties can easily plan to fulfill this commitment and increase diversity in economic participation by reducing challenges that might limit women & underrepresented groups bidding on procurement opportunities. Gender and planning County officers were encouraged to champion the need to have more County-specific disaggregated data on the allocation and uptake of affirmative action funds as an indicator of socio-economic development. Furthermore counties can use the Gender-Disaggregated data on County leadership to monitor trends in electoral patterns so as to allow involvement of more women in elective leadership posts.
Despite the opportunities presented by devolution it has been noted that going by observations, media reports and complaints by citizens, devolution seems to be failing to live up to its promise, particularly on the accountability front. In his remarks H.E. Oparanya said “It is increasingly becoming clear that devolution given the frequent legal and political challenges, that it is not being implemented as comprehensively as it was envisioned by Kenyans and or even by the drafters of the Constitution.”
The Governors resolved to strengthen the structural institutions that will effectively enable them deliver services to its citizens up to the village level. The Council of Governors on 25th July 2019 held a consultative meeting dubbed “The Future of Devolution” with all stakeholders of Devolution at Sarova Woodlands, Nakuru County.
The meeting which was attended by Excellency Governors, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, Chair of the County Assemblies Forum Johnson Osoi and development partners, sought to take stock of performance of both levels of governments in promoting and entrenching devolution as envisaged in the constitution.
In his remarks, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa reiterated that the National Government is committed to supporting devolution while assuring those present that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s support to devolution is unwavering. On the increment of revenue to counties, the CS said that figures from the Controller of Budget showcase increased allocations to counties since 2013.
However a presentation by Public Finance Management expert David Ndii shows that allocations to County Governments have actually been reducing every year since 2013. Furthermore he pointed out that the delayed disbursement of funds by the treasury is actually harming development of the Counties.
Devolution has faced various challenges including lack of a proper framework for intergovernmental planning, over reliance on the National Government and an unsustainable wage bill. The future of devolution is dependent on the principle of consultation coordination and cooperation. The two levels of Government should use this as a guide as they interact to ensure that their individual outputs speak into enriching and enhancing the lives of Kenyans
In this regard the meeting resolved that the National Government and County Governments will enhance consultation, cooperation and collaboration in the proper coordination of various frameworks in ensuring devolution is a success.
Furthermore, Governors agreed to explore partnerships with stakeholders in the devolution space in order to protect devolution and explore opportunities for County Governments to partner with the private sector at the local level to enhance growth and development cushion private sector against the overcrowding of investment by the National government.
This year, Kenya is among the 189 countries celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), which was unanimously adopted during Fourth World Conference for women in 1995. One of the resolutions from BPFA is for the 189 countries to develop a progress report every five years to ensure that they are on track. The state department of Gender has developed the BPFA +25 progress report, which builds on the achievements and progress, reported in 2015. The Council of Governors, state department of Gender, County Assemblies Forum and select Counties to review Kenya’s BPFA +25 report, to ensure the it reflects the correct status at the county level as guided by the 12 critical areas of the 1995 Beijing Conference.
“Even with the introduction of Devolution, Gender is a concurrent function and the National and County Governments have to work together” said Faith Kasiva, Principle Secretary State Department of Gender in remarks during the meeting. She further lauded Meru County for launching the Sexual and Gender Based Violence Policy mentioning that Counties have made major strides in women empowerment and legislation. “Our two levels of government are duty bearers I am therefore encouraged to see the strides that counties are making through legislation and subsequently protecting women” said gender PS. The BPFA +25 progress report is a build up to the BPFA +20 focusing mainly on the implementation progress over the last five years. It demonstrates critical achievements, challenges and opportunities to accelerate realization of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. In addition it takes cognizance of the interlinkages between the twelve critical areas of concern of the BPfA and the 2030 Agenda on sustainable development. The report highlights how the two reinforce progress for all women and girls.
Although Gender is not a devolved function, Counties have achieved a lot since the promulgation of the CoK 2010. The involvement of Counties in the review of the BPFA +25 ensured that County initiatives were included in the final report. Some of them include the formation of an Intergovernmental Forum between the two levels of government allowing the two to effectively coordinate on matters related to gender. Counties have formed multi-sectoral technical working groups co-chaired by the CEC and County Commissioner to deal on matters related to Gender based violence (GBV) and FGM.
It is said, educate a woman and you educate a nation. Under the stewardship of the Council of Governors in partnership with UN Women, a Women in leadership curriculum was developed and successfully rolled out to the 47 counties whose key objective was to building the capacity of women leaders at the County. Further there are several initiatives like a pioneer program for Gender data sheets, to be launched in August in 10 counties with the support of UN Women and KNBS and coordinated by the COG.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation organized the 3rd Intergovernmental Forum on Agriculture held from 10th - 11th July, 2019 – Sarova White Sand Hotel, Mombasa. The forum provides a platform for actors in the agriculture sector to interact, share and identify barriers against effective implementation of plans and programs at both levels of government. Furthermore, the forum provides an avenue for shaping important decisions on issues of policy, strategies and programs that are geared towards the attainment of the country’s agriculture goals.
The Forum brought together top leadership from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation led by the Cabinet Secretary – Hon. Mwangi Kiunjuri, EGH, MGH, Vice Chairman, Council of Governors H.E Governor Mwangi Wa Iria who was representing the CoG Chairman, H.E Governor Mutahi Kahiga who represented the Chairman, CoG Agriculture Committee, CAS Ministry of Devolution and ASALs, Agriculture CAS, Principal Secretaries, Senior Government officials from both levels of government and the private sector.
In his opening remarks, Vice Chairman, Council of Governors H.E Governor Mwangi Wa Iria reiterated that Agriculture is a devolved function and as such County Governments play an important role in ensuring that engagement at this level is necessary for the success of all activities under the sector, this will help secure sustainable outcomes that will benefit the famers.
“It is therefore important that all stakeholders’ work together in order to translate the strategies proposed in the Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS 2018) into measurable outcomes. We need to work towards a monitoring and evaluation strategy that will integrate all expected outcomes for the intervention by all stakeholders. It is also an opportune time to cascade the CAADAP mutual accountability framework and have code of conduct for the sector”, Mwangi said.
In his address, Agriculture CS – Hon. Mwangi Kiunjuri, commended the Governors for allocating 6.7% of their total County budgets to the agriculture sector; just 3% shy of the recommended allocation by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) Malabo Declaration.
“We must remember too that the sector is the largest contributor to national economic growth, directly contributing about 31.5% to the country's GDP. The socio-economic development of the country is therefore determined by performance of the sector. What therefore this means is this: if Kenya’s economy does not do well, it will be because agriculture has underperformed. As sector players therefore we bear a huge responsibility to deliver for Kenya and our people”, Kiunjuri said.
While in the meeting, H.E Governor Mutahi Kahiga on behalf of the CoG Agriculture Committee, spoke on the efforts that the Ministry and the Senate had put to develop and
review the existing legislative and regulatory frameworks, guiding the agriculture sector and that the County Governments fully support this noble idea since its will go a long way in smoothening value chains as well as weeding out unethical business practices.
“We applaud the launch of the potato regulations and I wish to thank the National and County Governments teams that worked tirelessly to develop them. I am sure the regulations will go a long way to support our farmers in production and marketing of their produce. It is therefore my expectations that this forum will provide guidance on how the remaining set of regulations could be finalized for purposes of development of various value chain crops for attaining 100% Food and Nutrition Security in the country by 2023’, said Kahiga
The inaugural source 21 COMESA International Trade Fair which brought together policy makers and the private sector from the 21 COMESA member states was held in Kenya on 17th – 21st July 2019. It was officially opened by the President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta accompanied by Presidents Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory of Mauritius, Edgar Chagwa Lungu of Zambia, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda and Deputy President Dr. William Samoei Ruto.
Speaking during the opening of the ceremony, President Uhuru Kenyatta urged member states to explore different products that they could trade with and encouraged them to trade within themselves. “We need to come up with innovative and practical strategies to promote industrialization and enhance trade’’, Uhuru said.
While addressing the delegation, deputy president William Ruto stressed the need to explore all avenues to ensure that our country meets its targets within the global markets.
“Trade is central to our national development, economic aspirations and a cross-cutting enabler of the Big Four Agenda. It is critical that we explore all avenues to expand the reach and value of Kenyan products within and without our borders, including deepening our trade collaboration,” said Dr. Ruto.
The Source 21 COMESA Trade fair happened in the back drop of the 3rd Kenya Trade Week and expo 2019 which was this year held on the 15th and 16th of June 2019 at the KICC under the theme “Powering Regional Integration through trade.” True to this theme, the expo focused to position Kenya as the leader in the realization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) as well as increase Africa’s Intra- trade. The forum brought together delegates from Kenya and all over the continent.
The Kenya Trade week has always offered an opportunity for Companies across the continent as well as Government organizations showcase their products and services. The Council of Governors has over the years been steadfast to engage with the public and stakeholders at this stage showcasing the best practices and initiatives that are improving service delivery at the County level as well as the Council of Governors as it executes its mandate as per the law.
Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga was amoung the many Kenyans that the Council of Governors had the opportunity to interact with during the expo. According to the former prime minister, the country needs to increase its competitiveness in trade and allocate more resources towards infrastructure projects.
“As a country, we must position ourselves as the hub and the champion of the continental trade initiative in the region. To achieve this, we must enhance our capacity for value addition and export. In particular, we must invest in infrastructure of Energy, Roads, Railways, Airways and Internet Connectivity,” Raila said.
County Governments in Kenya through the County Regional Economic Blocs are positioning themselves to maximize on their competitive advantage a move that can be replicated at the COMESA level to promote trade among member countries. County Governments have also made major strides towards value addition, creation of market linkages to producers as well as promoting cross border trade.
“We as County Governments are making deliberate interventions to grow our export markets, including fashioning our commerce agreements to directly link traders to markets and promoting cross-border trade. To derive maximum output, we must enhance value addition and develop niche products for target export market destinations to sell superior and quality products, thus in Counties we have the Counties Biashara Funds”, H.E Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, Chairman, Council of Governors said.
The 4th Kenya Trade week 2020 is expected to focus on analysis of the results of the actions taken henceforth and what is needed is to get better results, with regard to export growth, going forward.
“The Senate will not allow Kenyans go back to the retrogressive days. We will continue advocating for Devolution because of the improvement and development we have witnessed among our people.” Sen. Kipchumba Murkomen.
The Council of Governors led by the Chairman, H.E Wycliffe Oparanya together with the Senate and Members of the County Assemblies on Monday 15th July 2019 jointly filed an advisory to the Supreme Court on the legal issues arising from the Division of Revenue Bill 2019. The delegation converged at the Intercontinental Hotel and thereafter walked to the Supreme Court to present the advisory to the apex court.
This decision came following the recent events between the Senate and the National Government on the County allocations. The National Assembly and the Senate had failed to come to a consensus on what County Governments were to be allocated from the revenue collected nationally.
Over the last six (6) years, we have witnessed onslaughts on devolution. In the first term of County Governments, we saw devolution being undermined through formulation and enactment of centralist policies and laws. “The Council sought judicial intervention severally to declare some laws unconstitutional since they weakened devolution. In this second term, devolved governance is being attacked by denying County Governments their much needed resources”, said Council of Governors Chairman.
The delegation later proceeded for a meeting at the KICC with the Senate, members of the County Assemblies and the Civil Societies, where they would discuss, the way forward for Devolution as county services were being shut down due to poor funding of the devolved functions. Speaking during the meeting, the Senate leader of Minority, Senator James Oreng’o said, “Kenyans voted for a devolved system of governance when they promulgated a new constitution, it is therefore against the spirit of the Constitution when Members of the National Assembly pass bills that are draconian and against devolution. It is the role of the Senate to defend and protect Devolution and we promise to protect that which Kenyans voted for.”
Adding to the discussions, Senate leader of Majority, Sen. Kipchumba Murkomen noted, Elgeyo Marakwet County, for example, has been among the most affected counties where services have failed due to poor funding. Devolution was voted in so that resources and service delivery would be experienced at the grassroot level. “We as the Senate will not allow Kenyans go back to our retrogressive days and we will continue advocating for Devolution because of the improvement and development we have witnessed among our people,” assured the majority leader.
Bodies tasked to give oversight to Government, indicated that the National Assembly has to adhere to recommendations given by Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) which is a Constitutional body mandated with Revenue Allocation. Speaking during the meeting, Wanjiru Gikonyo, The Institution for Social Accountability (TISA) National Coordinator, noted that the challenge Kenya is facing is that national Government treats the revenue raised nationally as the revenue of the National Government. However, Article 202 of the Constitution provides for equitable share of the revenue raised nationally between the National and County Governments to be shared equitably. “Counties are entitled to an equitable share of the revenue raised nationally, and this must be determined by an objective criteria. Further, counties may get additional allocations from the share of the National Government”.
After the mention of the case, Chief Justice David Maraga announced Wednesday 31st July as the hearing date.
County Governments continue to hope that through the collaboration and consultations between the Senate and the National Assembly, the Equitable Share will be increased from the initial proposed amount of Ksh 316 Billion to what CRA has proposed which is Ksh 335 Billion to allow County Governments serve Kenyans better and efficiently.
The Climate change training, organized by the Tourism and Natural Resource Management Committee in partnership with KPMG, was held on the 11- 12th of July at L. Naivasha Resort, Nakuru County. The need by County Governments to integrate and mainstream climate change in their plans and programs necessitated the capacity building of the secretariat who support the County Governments.
“Climate change is no child’s play. We only have 15 years to get to the point of no return. This means that very soon, emmissions will drive global temperatures to 1.5 degrees celcius in less than 16 years.” Mr. Evans Kituyi, a climate change expert protested. This only shows how serious climate change is when in reality, very little attention is given to it.
The trainees were enlightened on areas such as climate change and its impacts on economic sectors, achievement of COG towards mainstreaming climate in county development, climate change policies and legislations, mainstreaming climate change considerations into national and county planning, financing climate action through national and international mechanism as well as devolved climate finance and county resilience.
Climate change requires a multi- sectoral approach among the technical committees at the Council of Governors. This has over the years been the challenge as the burden has previously been cast on the NRM committee. Climate change being a cross-cutting phenomenon, the training ensures that all members come on board to ensure that it is mainstreamed in all programs.
Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a fund established within the framework of the UNFCCC as an operating entity of the financial mechanism to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. This is one such mechanism to help deal with budgetary issues surrounding climate change if well managed. Calls to the Council of governors were made to help source funds from the development partners concerning the same.
As a way forward, it was decided that there should be structured sensitization of committees on climate change, deliberation on addition of climate change agenda on sector work plans, have climate change unit at the COG and a budget for that as well as trainings on the same.
Forests regulate ecosystems, protect biodiversity, and play an integral part in the carbon cycle, support livelihoods, and supply goods and services that can drive sustainable growth. Forests' role in climate change is two-fold. They act as both a cause and a solution for greenhouse gas emissions.
The forest that acted before as their haven has been depleted as a result of increasing human activities.
“This forest was once elephant maternity,” Kenya Forest Service Narok County Ecosystem Conservator Mwai Muraguri said. Muraguri said increased human activities within the forest have dealt the forest a major blow.
In early 1980s, indigenous trees within the forest provided an earthy scent that drifted towards the nostrils of nature lovers as its beauty heart-warmed the souls of many.
This has however been depleted, thanks to human greed. The depletion seen forests past glory fade over time even though its wonder is still nourishing souls. The Forest roads are now thronged with Lorries while empty as they race into the green foliage. The Lorries within minutes maneuver out of the forest sagging and swaying precariously under the weight of its illegal cargo: charcoal.
Here, charcoal business is booming. The once sap sweet fragrance from the forest is gone as the forest that was once covered with indigenous forest covering approximately 500 square kilometers is gone. The Nyakweri forest which was once a clearest way into the Universe has now been replaced by iron thatched roofs and grass thatched roofs.
Motor cycles lumbers down a deeply rutted dirt road every now and then. Locals and those eking out a living from the forest have cleared the once heart haunting melody from the trees at peril. The massive indigenous trees provided a classic home to some of the world’s iconic flora and fauna.
According to the locals, mother elephants with their new calves in tow frequented the area to give their young ones a glimpse of what life portends for them. The young calves would be welcomed to the world with the creeping plant with succulent tubers that are full of energy. After getting the much needed energy, their mothers would trek with them for about 14 kilometers to the world famous Maasai Mara National Park.
The forest today is however a pale shadow of its past, as witnessed during a recent fly over of the forest. Houses have grown like mushrooms. This is despite the fact that the forest formed a wonderful habitat for various wildlife such as Buffaloes, Waterbucks, Impalas, Leopards, among others. More than 200 species of birds including Turacos, Trogons, Eagles, Wood-hoopoes, Hornbills, among others can be spotted in the canopy of the forest.
Huge tree species such as East African Olive, Dispyros, Wild Olive, Kenya Greenheart and Manikara Butugi dominated it. Mwai said Nyakweri forest used to be one of the remaining forest with massive indigenous trees.
Over time, however, massive swathes have been cleared to pave way for farming as the region was considered the most fertile. After land sub-division, local landowners who are mainly from the Maasai community invited outsiders to cut down trees paving way for agriculture. In turn, these laborers receive their payment from the sale of charcoal that they make while the owner gets 25 percent of the money.
In the dry areas, farmers cut trees mainly the Acacia species for charcoal production. The charcoal producers use traditional earth kilns that are very inefficient. Illegal charcoal production is taking place in the protected forest where immigrants use power saws to cut trees.
The dense indigenous forest is of high ecological and socio-cultural importance to the traditional Maasai people and also an important feeding and breed ground for large mammals. Despite the critical role that the forest-plays, massive degradation is threatening it with the wanton destruction of the forest is now making Elephants afraid of giving birth as their maternity is no longer a fit place to give birth. The forest that is under the jurisdiction of Narok County Government falls between Kimintet and Oloirien group Ranches.
It is thus within the declared adjudication area. The total area is estimated to be 20,000 Ha of dry land mixed indigenous forest. Conservationists are now worried that the forest could soon be history as it continues to undergo sub division into individual free holds at a faster rate not seen before.
As at July last year for instance, some 52 freehold land Title deeds were issued to Olorien Group Ranch members. A close canopy area measuring 1,680Ha is said to have been set aside as an animal refuge and Narok County Government, World Wide Fund for Nature, Mara Elephant Project and Ann Tailor Elephant Project requested to ensure that it is well conserved.
Already, efforts are being put in place to conserve the Forest. Under the leadership of the Narok County government, a consultative meeting involving among others- the Transmara DCC, ACCs & Chiefs, KFS, KWS, WWF and the Group Ranch representatives met in Kilgoris CDF Hall and made a unanimous resolution to safeguard Nyakweri forest and intensify patrols using a multi-agency approach and make arrests for charcoal vendors.
Other past and ongoing efforts and initiatives to save the forest have include ban of burning and transportation of charcoal, suspension of clearing permit and arrest and prosecution of person transporting charcoal. Awareness has also been created to the community on the need of forest conservation.
However, the actual boundary of the forest is not well known. Mwai said KFS and the County government is exploring the possibility of settling the remaining members of the group ranch by buying them land elsewhere and settling them.
The National and County Governments are also taking the leading roles in support it with the resource base support (including all round protection) and technical backstopping to ensure a win –win situation. Road patrols, road blocks, enhance intelligence gathering and awareness creation has also been intensified as one way of protecting the forest.
Mwai said efforts were being put in place to confirm the boundaries between the Nyakweri forest and the neighbouring titled farms The move will clearly demarcate the forest area for the Narok County Government to gazette it.
Already, proposals have been made to erect an electric fence all-round the forest. Authorities are also exploring the possibility of employing community scouts and guides and probably convert it into a nature conservancy with clearly spelt out benefit sharing mechanism to the neighbouring communities.
Proper boundary survey will also be established before beacons are erected. Those with land ownership documents are set to be authenticated to weed out fake ones.
Nyakweri forest is a unique sub-ecosystem which is famously known as the elephant's maternity and supports the Maasai Mara ecosystem and beyond the Country into Tanzania and no effort should be spared to manage it on a sustainable basis.