The 10-year-old devolved system, which has been lauded for enabling impressive development and progress countrywide, is at a crossroads. When he came to power a year ago, President William Ruto pledged to speedily transfer the remaining functions to the counties but pretty little has been done. And the rivalry between national and county governments could get worse.
A new report shows the national government has stuck to devolved functions worth Sh272 billion, thus violating the Constitution and hampering the operations of the 47 counties. The report by an inter-governmental relations agency, which was submitted to the Senate Devolution Committee, says some functions are still being performed by government ministries, departments and agencies two decades later.
In fact, the national government now appears to be clawing back on some of the functions earmarked for the counties. This may have seemed innocuous but the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform has proposed that the pre-school education function be taken over by the Ministry of Education. This has all along been the preserve of the county councils and had remained under the county governments.
The Council of Governors has been grumbling over the allocation of funds to counties. The national government has reportedly refused to let go some devolved functions. They include healthcare, which is still mainly controlled from the Health ministry headquarters, which runs policy and much more. The report indicates that the ministry and its agencies perform 45 elements of devolved functions.
The report has also identified 52 Education ministry areas that should by now have gone to the counties. The Water ministry also still performs elements of devolved functions, totalling 18, as do the Agriculture and Energy ministries.
There is a need for careful planning to avoid disrupting the governance system. But let there be serious consultations on the possible schedules or renegotiate the entire arrangement.
