KATIBA 16: The State of Devolution as the country marks 16 years of the new Constitution

When President Mwai Kibaki led the nation in promulgation of the 2010 Constitutionat the Uhuru Park grounds. [File, Standard]

Kenya is marking 16 years since the promulgation of the new constitution with the adoption of  Devolution which created two levels of government at the National Level and the 47 County Governments being the hallmark.

Corruption in Counties is turning out to be the silent killer of devolution as the country marks 13 years since the establishment of Counties in 2013 with billions of shillings allocated annually being embezzled by senior counties officials.

Counties Governments have been raising concerns over the National Government still withholding crucial functions like Health, Agriculture and Rural Roads Development with a budget worth billions of shillings still managed at the national level instead of the 47 Counties.

The Parliamentary Budget Office in March last established that the 47 Counties were facing Sh532 billion fiduciary risk exposure with unidentified assets, legal fees and pending bills topping the list against an annual transfer of Sh400 billion shillings from the exchequer.

Senators who have been champions of devolution raised concerns over Sh87 billion that could not be accounted for in all the Counties in the financial 2023-2024 terming it very worrying as the devolved units seek for more funding from the exchequer to be able to offer better services.

This was revealed when the Senate County Public Accounts Committee Chairperson Moses Kajwang tabled the Auditor General reports on the financial statements for the 47 Counties for the financial 2023-2024 before the house in March 2025 with Senators raising concerns.

“Our 47 Counties must tell Kenyans where the Sh87 billion disappeared to in the last financial year, we will be moving across counties together with the EACC, DCI and DPP to establish where public funds from the exchequer sent to the counties went to,” said Kajwang.

The Homa Bay Senator told the house that the 47 County Assemblies ought to have considered all the reports of the Auditor General on their respective county executive but none had done the primary oversight which shows that they have absconded their oversight role to Senate.

Kajwang told the Senate that pending bills had increased to Sh179 billion up from Sh163 billion the previous financial year with Nairobi leading with Sh118 billion, Kiambu Sh6.3 billion, Mombasa Sh4.4 billion, Machakos Sh4.1 billion and Bungoma Sh3.5 billion.

The Homa Bay Senator pointed out that 24 Counties had pending bills of more than Sh1 billion each with some pending bills that are more than five years’ old which showed that the area Governors had chosen to ignore previous pending bills which left contractors suffering.

Kajwang raised concerns that most Governors had chosen to pay contractors in the current period and failed honouring those of previous regime forgetting that those with valid claims can move to court to demand payment of their dues which will be granted at a cost to the counties.

“Counties are not expected to set up taskforces to review pending bills having been declared illegal by the high court, every county should have an internal audit committee to check on this, we have seen taskforces set up to review the work of previous taskforces,” said Kajwang.

The Homa Bay Senator said that the Public Finance Management act states that the wage bill should not exceed 35 percent with 16 counties having wage bill exceeding 50 percent while development should be 30 percent and above which is not the case in most counties.

Kajwang said that most gave excuses of inheriting former municipalities employees and that counties came to give jobs to locals with Kisii leading with 6o percent, Nairobi 56 percent, Nyeri 55 percent, Laikipia 55 percent, Taita Taveta 54 percent and Homa Bay 52 percent.

“The issue of legal fees in counties requires a multi sectoral approach while professional negligence of an accountant making statements that cannot be admitted by the Auditor General should face disciplinary action since every official need to be diligent,” said Kajwang.

Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee Chairperson Johnes Mwaruma said the Auditor General reports have been brought before the Senate and 47 County Assemblies with the Senate allowed to ask Governors to explain their expenditure each financial year.

“We have gone through audit reports which show that funds may not have been well used in most counties, with no asset registers, no clear records on vehicles while some land parcels do not have title deeds, with challenges in collecting own resource revenue noted,” said Mwaruma.

Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina supported calls for the Senate oversight committees to work with Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Directorate of Public Prosecution and Directorate of Criminal Investigation to take action against rogue Governors who misuse public funds.

Muranga Senator Joe Nyutu said county governments need to put their priorities right especially with legal fees which are abnormal, terming pending bills as a cancer that is eating both the national and county governments and need to be dealt with.

The Council of Governors(COG) early this year accused some Senators of political witch hunt and intimidation and threatened nonappearance before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee and the Senate County Public Investment and Special Funds Committee.

The COG Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi stated that Governors will not appear before the two watchdog Senate Committees until unless their concerns are addressed with the position causing a stalemate between the Senate and Governors.

 Abdullahi, stated after a Governors’ retreat in Kilifi that he was concerned about what he described as continuous and escalating extortion, political witch-hunt, harassment, intimidation, and humiliation of Governors by some Senators.

“To this effect, the Council of Governors has resolved that Governors will not appear before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee until our concerns are addressed through a structured engagement between us and the Senate leadership,” said Abdullahi.

Senator Kajwang responded that Governors’ resolution implied they would only appear under their own terms before the Senate which should not be the case since, they have a responsibility of being accountable to Kenyans over the billions allocated to their administrations.

 “The Governors want to choose who sits in the committees, when they appear, and how they are questioned. I have never seen a case where suspects dictate the bench, it is completely ridiculous and unacceptable,” said Kajwang.

He noted that recent Auditor General reports and media coverage highlight serious allegations of county resource theft. Article 229 and 125 give the Senate the power to consider these reports and summon individuals for evidence.

“Governors are bullying the Senate to avoid hard questions. Accountability is a duty to the public, not a favour to the Senate, the Council of Governors should be aware of this fact,” stated Kajwang.

The Homa Bay Senator urged Governors to submit evidence of extortion or harassment to the relevant institutions, assuring that the Senate will continue to perform its oversight mandate despite the threatens issued by the Council of Governors.

 “The Senate committees will act decisively wherever public resources are pilfered, which appears to make some Governors uncomfortable, that will not stop us from performing out mandate,” said Kajwang.

The Controller of Budget Dr Margaret Nyakango revealed that the 47 County Governments spent Sh72 billion for development representing a 31 percent absorption rate in the first nine months of the financial year 2025 -26 out of the annual development budget of Sh234.33 billion.

The Controller of budget pointed out that 43 counties recorded development absorption rate below 50 percent while only four exceeded that thresh old: Nandi (55 percent), Meru (54 percent), Wajir (54 per cent), and Marsabit (51 per cent).

Cumulative Counties expenditure during the review period totalled Sh331.65 billion, comprising Sh259.57 billion (78 percent) for recurrent expenditure and Sh72.07 billion (22 percent) for development expenditure with this representing 53 percent of the annual county budget.

“Nairobi recorded the highest overall absorption rate at 72 per cent; 26 counties recorded between 50 percent and 70 percent, while 20 remained below 49 percent, other top performers were Meru (68 per cent), Marsabit (66 percent), Nandi (63 percent), Wajir (62 percent), and Kilifi (61 percent),” said Dr Nyakango.

The County Budget Implementation Review Report for the first nine months of Financial 2025/26, covering July 2025 to March 2026 showed that to finance the 2025/26 budget, the county governments expected Sh415 billion from equitable share of nationally raised revenue.

President William Ruto said in December 2024 that the government has finalized the unbundling, delineation, and transfer of all devolved functions to counties in line with the directive he issued during last year National and County Governments Coordination Summit.

Ruto who was speaking during 11th National and County Governments summit directed the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) to take the next step of systematically identifying and transferring the requisite budgetary and other resources tied to these functions.

Council of Governors Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi told the summit that gazettment of unbundled functions and transfer of remaining county functions and attendant resources, finalization of longstanding valuation of assets of defunct local authorities and devolved functions is very crucial for the smooth operation of the 47 counties.

The President said that harmonious intergovernmental relations, as outlined in Article 6 of the Constitution, are essential for effective and sustainable devolution and, by extension, the success of our national socioeconomic transformation agenda pointing out while the two levels of government are distinct, they are also interdependent.

“Our relationship must, therefore, be built on consultation and cooperation, it is in this spirit that I have consistently engaged with county governments and their leadership, both formally and informally, consulting Governors to align our strategic agendas. I remain committed to holding regular engagements through the National and County Government Coordination Summit, which I recognise as a vital platform for advancing our shared priorities,” said Ruto.

The President said that articles 6, 187 and 189 of the Constitution emphasise consultation, cooperation, and coordination between the two levels of government highlighting ongoing collaborative efforts, such as the National Government’s support for county-led initiatives like school feeding and bursary programmes, as well as classroom expansion projects.

Ruto said that similarly, counties have partnered with the National Government on fresh produce market infrastructure projects commending the IGRTC for facilitating these partnerships and formalising them through intergovernmental agreements.