The Council of Governors has set new demands for the next president stating that the Head of State should introduce the Office of the Secretary for Devolution at the National Treasury to coordinate disbursement of funds to counties.
The disbursement of funds has been counties’ biggest nightmare, with the Treasury often ignoring the schedule as approved by the Senate leading to delays that sometimes run into months.
Additionally, they want a committee formed, similar to the defunct Transition Authority, to oversee the transfer of powers and funding to counties, as well as the establishment of a Secretary of Devolution at the National Treasury under the incoming administration.
Governors want the next President to transfer all functions performed by ministries through parastatals to the counties within the first 100 days.
They cited functions under the Agriculture and Food Authority, which they said should be devolved.
Governors present include Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi chairman Martin Wambora, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, his Senate counterpart Ken Lusaka and Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’, who is also chairman of the Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committee at the Senate.
Murungi who chairs the CoG’s legal, constitutional affairs and intergovernmental relations committee said the county bosses will use the charter to gauge the commitment of the next President on devolution.
“For instance, the Kenya Rural Roads Authority is building roads in rural areas yet this is under county governments. We demand that funds and engineers at Kerra should be transferred to the counties,” Murungi said.
The governors criticized the fact that, ten years after devolution, some functions were yet to be devolved to the counties, causing operations to be hampered. The Transition Authority, according to county officials, was disbanded early.
However, contrary to their expectations and demands, according to the latest Auditor General’s report, at least 15 outgoing governors invested more than Sh10 billion stalled, incomplete, or unutilized big projects. According to the audit, several of the marquee projects that have squandered taxpayer funds were either badly executed, have stopped, or are not being used.
Auditor General Nancy Gathungu has exposed payments dating back to 2014 for works not completed to date in her report for the Financial Year ending June 30, 2020, throwing doubt on whether value for money was realized.