Governors on 6th November 2023 held an annual summit in Maasai Mara, Narok County with a view to reflect on the current state of devolution since its inception in 2013, achievements made, challenges encountered in the last one year and strategize on how to strengthen devolution going forward. Themed “Reflect, Realign and Review”, the two –day retreat provided an opportunity to assess the weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats of devolution as well as deliberate on how to better engage other stakeholders including National Government, civil society and the private sector.
“We will be looking at the various functions that we carry out, which are still outstanding and need to be transferred to the Counties, and resourcing of the functions from development partners, National Government, equitable share and conditional grants. We will also discuss how we can effectively deliver services according to the citizens’ expectations,” noted Council of Governors (CoG) Chairperson H.E Anne Waiguru while addressing members of the press during the meeting.
“Among other issues that we will be deliberating on is the catastrophic effects of the El-Nino rains that are causing havoc in many parts of the country particularly parts of North Eastern and Coastal regions. We need to find solutions to the challenges that our people are facing,” added the CoG Vice Chairman and Governor of Wajir H.E Ahmed Abdulahi.
Governors, led by the Chairs of the 18 technical committees of the Council, dissected some of the key issues affecting various devolved sectors with the aim of enhancing service delivery at the local level and coordination across sectors between both levels of government and the Senate.
It was resolved as follows: Parliament to expedite the enactment of the Impeachment Procedures Bill; the Council Governors to work in collaboration with the Executive to expedite implementation of the resolutions made during the Summit and IBEC meetings; County Governments to advance strategies for conservation of environment and sustainable use of natural resources including protection of wildlife migration corridors, and the planting of trees in line with the President’s 15 billion tree growing initiative; the National Assembly to urgently repeal Sections 191 A to 191 E of the PFM Act which has put in place bureaucratic procedures requiring the signing of specific IPAs by County Governments to access each of the Conditional Grants, and in the interim allow a 2-year waiver on the same.
Further the County Bosses called for: the allocation of Ksh.250 Million grant by the National Government to the remaining 29 Counties through the Supplementary Budget in the FY 2023/24 for implementation of the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs); fast-tracking of the signing of financing agreements for negotiated programmes such as KUSP Il to facilitate inclusion in the Additional Allocation Bill 2023/24; speedy finalization of unbundling, costing and transfer of all devolved functions and; the reconvening of the El Nino Response and Mitigation Committee to supplement the financing of the interventions being undertaken by Counties in response to the ravaging El Nino Rains.
