Enemies of devolution cripple service delivery

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki addresses the media at the Official Residence, Karen, Nairobi, accompanied by the Council of Governors leadership, government officials, and other role players in devolution on December 13, 2024. [File, Standard] When it was conceptualised devolution was supposed to devolve resources from Nairobi to counties. However, 12 years after its introduction, it has been impeded by hurdles and created theaters of conflict and layered enmity. It is turning out that the national government, governors and Members of Parliament and MCAs are some of the existential threats to devolution, according to a section of leaders and devolution civil society organisations. The national government has been accused of undermining devolution by withholding resources and powers from county governments, despite the constitutional mandate to devolve functions and powers to the counties. Critics point to inconsistencies in resource allocation, delayed transfers of funds, and a lack of effective consultation between the national and county governments as evidence of this. According to Kenya Devolution Civil Society Organisations Working Group, President William Ruto failed to fulfill his promise to surrender all devolved functions to the county governments. Some of the functions that the national government has been accused of withholding include health, agriculture and infrastructure with Kenya Human Rights and Institute for Social Accountability stating that the move has denied counties at least Sh271 billion. "The President has twice reneged on his promise to transfer devolved functions to county governments, which, had it been done, at least Sh271 billion would have gone to counties to alleviate the suffering people ," said Cornelius Oduor of the Kenya Human Rights Commission. The Council of Governors (CoG) has also accused President William Ruto's administration of waging a covert war against devolution. The governors described the national government's move to reduce county allocation from Sh40 billion to Sh38 billion as a calculated assault on their ability to deliver services, with the CoG Vice Chairman Mutahi Kahiga asserting that the move was not a one-off misstep but part of a sustained campaign to undermine devolution. "It is becoming increasingly apparent that these systematic budgetary cuts are designed to cripple county governments, hindering effective service delivery, and ultimately discredit and kill the devolved system of governance," said Kahiga The CoG also accused the national government of treating devolution casually, pointing to the Treasury's claim that the counties lack the capacity to absorb these additional resources in the 2025/2026 financial year. "By purposefully underfunding county governments, the national government is creating a crisis, only to turn around and put counties on the spot for failing to deliver essential services," said CoG. ODM leader Raila Odinga shifted the blame to MPs who he accused of sabotaging devolution claiming that they were competing with the county chiefs to implement projects that are not within their mandate, while frustrating the release of resources to counties. Raila said devolution was not working because of the push and pull between national and county governments and the MPs have taken advantage of this to frustrate devolution. "In this current constitution, Parliament has powers on matters of budget-making, and now they want to play the role of county governments by doing county government projects," he said. He said it is absurd for MPs not to allocate funds to counties only for them to accuse Governors of not delivering to the people and corruption. "Don't keep money with you and then you accuse Governors of corruption or not delivering. If a Governor is corrupt, we will deal with him but do not hold money. Governors must have money and power," he said. Raila said the court declared CDF is unconstitutional and the decision should be respected by MPs. He explained that the role of the Parliament as per the constitution remains legislation and oversight, which they have abandoned and are now playing the role of contractors. "There is a lot of money that is supposed to come to the counties but it is being held by the national government and also because of some other monies like CDF. MPs are still holding fuel levies that are meant to come to counties because they want to construct roads as contractors. They also want to construct hospitals and schools, which is not their role," he added. Governors who are supposed to deliver the developments to the last mile have turned out to be the enemies of devolution if the report by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC) is anything to go by. From presenting themselves as mini Presidents, the county has been accused of running county coffers dry even as they engage in expensive trips and inflating tenders and initiating ghost projects despite heavy funding. According to EACC, the most prevalent malpractices in the counties include embezzlement of public funds, conflict of interest, procurement fraud, payroll fraud through ghost workers, fraudulent pending bills and blatant disregard of laws relating to prudent management of public affairs. In their report released two years ago, the commission reported that it had arraigned nine current and former governors over graft cases, which are criminal and civil in nature. Former Governors Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu) and Daniel Waithaka (Nyandarua) were found guilty of corruption and procurement irregularities respectively. Waititu, his wife Susan Wangari Ndung'u, their two companies, a former Kiambu County Government Chief Officer for Roads, a contracting company, and its two directors have been found guilty of various charges in the Sh588 million road tender graft case in February this year. On the other hand, Waithaka was handed two years in prison or pay a fine of Sh1 million after being found guilty of procurement irregularities. Other former governors who have battled corruption cases include Moses Lenolkulal (Samburu) Okoth Obado (Migori) Mike Sonko (Nairobi) Sospeter Ojamong (Siaya) and Mwangi Wa Iria (Murang'a). The commission's report indicates that to date, county governments have, cumulatively, not remitted over Ksh.80 billion pension deductions made from employees' salaries partly due to misappropriation and embezzlement. "In the last ten years, EACC has received and processed 10,543 reports of corruption and unethical conduct relating to county governments," the report noted. The latest casualty is Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi who is in cross hairs of the anti-graft sleuths. The commission raided the governor's home and recovered what they termed as evidentiary materials which included Sh12 million and USD 13000 in cash.

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