Background
Overview of the Council of Governors
The Council of Governors (the Council) is a statutory non-partisan body established under section 19 of the Intergovernmental Relations Act (IGRA 2012) and comprises the forty-seven County Governments’ Governors. The Council aims to be a benchmark of excellence in devolution while providing a supporting pillar for County Governments as a platform for consultation, information sharing, capacity building, performance management, and dispute resolution. The Council plays a coordinating and facilitative role amongst the County Governments and between the two levels of government, development partners and other stakeholders in promoting sustainable development of the 23 ASAL Counties and enhance county capacity on disaster management.
Council of Governors established sector-working committees to better carry out its functions. The Council operates through committees that mirror those of the Senate and the National Assembly. Currently, there are 18 technical committees chaired by Governors. The Committees are governed by Committee Rules. One of the Technical Committees is the ASAL and Disaster Risk Management Committee
Overview of Constitutional Assignment of Functions to Counties in ASAL Development and Disaster Risk Management
The Constitution of Kenya, 2010, specifically the bill of rights provides for the right to: be free from hunger, have adequate food of acceptable quality for all Kenyans; a clean and healthy environment; the highest attainable standard of health; accessible and adequate housing, and to reasonable standards of sanitation; clean and safe water in adequate quantities; social security; and education. These right attainment in the ASL areas is still low to continued marginalization in national development.
Further, Under the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 (CoK,2010) disaster risk management functions fall within the purview of both the national and county governments. Thus, by virtue of article 186 (2), the function is deemed to be within the concurrent jurisdiction of both levels of government. It appears on part 1 and 2 of the
Fourth Schedule as “Disaster management” and “Firefighting services and disaster management” for the national and county governments respectively.
Role of the ASAL and Disaster Risk Management Committee
The Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Disaster Risk Management Committee deals with matters relating to the development of Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), Disaster Risk Management and Resilience building including;
- Offer platform for consultation on key issues such as Contingency planning for drought and other associated risks.
- Review of policy and legal proposals on issues of food security and risk management such as drought, floods, and insecurity in the counties
- Develop advisories to County Governments on ASAL development, resilience building and disaster management
- Develop agricultural project proposals and provide technical support to the implementation of devolved functions in Counties.
- Promote intergovernmental relations by developing mechanism for consultation and cooperation for the agriculture sector.
- Monitor, review, share memorandum and advisories on policies and proposed laws for consideration by County and National Governments to enhance service delivery in the ASAL areas and Disaster management Sector.
- Sensitization of County Governments for increased public expenditure in the resilience building and disaster management
- Support counties to develop frameworks on resilience building and disaster management
- Document and share county performance on the ASAL development, resilience building and disaster management
- Resource mobilization from the development partners to complement the limited resources for implementation resilience building and disaster management function in counties
- Identification of gaps and opportunities for strengthening the capacity of Counties to prepare for and respond to the impacts of weather-related shocks, with a particular focus on chronically vulnerable Counties
- Strengthening of existing county structures, coordination mechanisms, early warning, and trigger systems at County
- Collection and analysis of food security, drought situation, and early warning reports
- Participate in relevant interagency and intergovernmental coordination committees, technical working groups, and task forces and champions county interest in matters relating to ASAL development, resilience building and disaster management
- On a need basis appear before parliament to present legislative memoranda on specific issues (proactively and retroactively upon summons)
Approach to Undertaking Committee Business:
The Committee undertakes her functions through: Committee meetings; County Executive Committee Members (CECM) caucus; inter-county forums; ASAL and Disaster Management intergovernmental forums; engagement with the State Department of ASALS, NDOC, NDMU, NDMA; National Assembly and Senate; Development Partners and other stakeholders including private sector in promoting sustainable development of the 23 ASAL Counties and enhance county capacity on disaster management.
