Adopt project based budgeting in Kenyan counties

NAIROBI: There is no gainsaying that devolution has brought forth a lot of positive aspects. Yes, it has its own fair share of challenges but we are better off with devolution than without it. Some areas of this country have seen tarmac for the first time, thanks to devolution. Counties like Mandera can now perform surgical operations for the first time. We have counties rolling out technical and vocational training institutes, medical training colleges, milk processing centres and county industrial parks, all of which are transforming this nation.
While the foregoing is a statement of fact, we would be doing a great disservice to ourselves if we fail to point out the challenges facing the devolved units. The obvious one is that most of our counties are unsustainably small in a way that frustrates serious long term planning. They are just not viable. Secondly, our counties are competing to consume instead of competing to produce. We are competing to consume as if Kenya was a piece of hunted game.

While the Council of Governors is vocal on the amount and timing of the money that should be sent to counties, we do not hear them talk about the new domestic and foreign investment they have brought to the counties. Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has been visible at photo opportunities with investors.