Fifth devolution conference in photos

More than 6,000 participants are attending the ongoing fifth annual devolution conference taking place in Kakamega County.

Entering its second day on Wednesday, the conference is focused on President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda and the successes made by devolution in the last five years.

Here are some of the activities that went down today in pictures.

Addressing the 5th Annual Devolution Conference at Kakamega High School through a video link from State House, President Uhuru announced a Sh50 billion State boost to counties to enable them give quality services.

The Head of State announced the launch of the Kenya Devolution Support Programme and the Kenya Urban Support Programme, indicating it will be performance-based conditional grants to the devolved units.

“Both combined, will inject Ksh 50 billion into your county governments, to help you build and improve the systems that support your staff, and your delivery of services,” said Uhuru.

Raila told governors that conflicts of interests were harming service delivery as county officials’ enrichened themselves.

He said count speakers, majority leaders, MCAs and county executives had positioned themselves with the sole purpose of making money from public works projects, becoming both contractors and overseers.

The rot was so serious that, he added, governors were bribing MCAs to approve their cabinet appointees. He described the bench-marking trips so beloved by MCAs as bribes by governors.

He said fighting corruption was not a partisan affairs which why his MoU with President Uhuru Kenyatta, signed on March 9, recognised it as an “existential threat.”