Devolution conference: Governors on the spot over abandoned county projects
Leaders at the Biennial Devolution Conference at Eldoret Sports Club in Uasin Gishu County on August 17, 2023.
Governors were put on the spot Thursday for abandoning projects started by their predecessors, with the Devolution Conference underway in Eldoret raising concern about the cost of divisive and personalised politics on the taxpayer.
The second day of the 8th Devolution Conference shined a spotlight on stalled, abandoned and underutilised projects scattered across the counties, even after consuming significant amounts of taxpayers’ money.
“The rise of white elephant projects, coupled with the unfortunate practice of abandoning projects due to changing political leadership, serves as a painful reminder of how personal agendas can outweigh the needs of our citizens. We must acknowledge that these actions undermine the very essence of devolution, the essence that places our counties at the heart of economic growth and empowerment,” regretted Deputy Majority Leader in the National Assembly Owen Baya, in a session themed on resourcing devolution.
In the session, speakers reflected on the trends and the challenges that have been experienced in financing the devolved sectors and recommended innovative approaches for sustainable and adequate financing for county governments.
“The sight of incomplete projects scattered across our nation serves as a stark reminder of our failure to deliver on our promises,” he said, noting that it is not about who initiated these projects, but about the impact they can have on the lives of our people.
“We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to rise above partisan politics and prioritise the common good. It is not just bad politics; it is a disservice to our citizens to abandon ongoing projects and embark on new ones that might serve as mere tokens of political ambition,” he stated.
Thursday’s session also reflected on the financial autonomy of county assemblies as a vital measure to strengthen their oversight role and empower them to fulfil their mandate without fear or favour.
Mr Baya, representing Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, said independence of the devolved assemblies will enable MCAs to hold their county executives accountable for their actions, without succumbing to undue pressure or intimidation.
“By granting county assemblies financial independence, we empower them to exercise their oversight functions robustly and impartially,” he said.
“It will foster an environment where transparent governance thrives, where accountability is upheld, and where the people's interests are truly served,” Mr Baya stated.
Although the National Government has shown commitment to empowering counties, the Deputy Majority Leader said there is also a need for a balanced system of checks and balances at the local level.
“Just as our national parliament operates independently from the executive branch, with its budget, it is time to extend a similar level of independence to our County Assemblies,” he said.
At the opening session of the conference on Wednesday, Council of Governors (CoG) chairperson Anne Waiguru rooted for the autonomy of county assemblies, saying county governments and assemblies have often been overlooked and left out in deliberations around devolution, yet their roles are crucial for the success of the same.
“In the wisdom of hindsight and experience, we should accord them their rightful place, as the load-bearing beams and pivoting pillars, in our development objectives. We achieve this by first accepting their autonomy, and formally safeguarding their functional welfare, within the parameters already provided,” she said.
“County Assemblies are the footprint of government for mwananchi. Their community obligations are not sufficiently captured in their job descriptions, yet their remuneration has been reduced,” she said, urging President William Ruto to intervene.
On stalled projects, Mr Baya challenged governors taking over from predecessors to ensure they see incomplete projects to completion. He said projects are abandoned at the counties due to changing political leadership, undermining development at the grassroots and betraying the spirit of devolution.
“The 2021/2022 audit report by the Auditor General paints a concerning picture. We have seen counties spend significant sums of taxpayers' money on projects that lie dormant, lacking the transformative impact they were designed to deliver,” said the Deputy Majority Leader.
“Billions of shillings have been poured into initiatives that should have propelled our counties toward prosperity, only to find these projects abandoned, incomplete, or worse yet, vandalised. This is a stark reminder that we cannot rest on our laurels; we must take action to rectify these shortcomings,” he said.
He called on county leadership to rise above partisan politics and prioritise the common good of the grassroots people, noting that it was a disservice to the majority when projects are abandoned.
“These resources could have been directed towards initiatives that truly uplift the lives of our people and drive holistic development. This situation is untenable and calls for a collective effort to reverse the tide of waste and mismanagement,” he stated.
In a presentation delivered on his behalf by Senator Veronicah Maina, Deputy Speaker of the Senate Kathuri Murungi regretted that counties continue to heavily rely on Exchequer disbursements for their survival, with their source revenue as a financial lifeline remaining a mirage at the devolved levels.
He said own source revenue promises to guarantee the ultimate financial liberty and autonomy for devolved units and sustainability for devolution.
“This is the scenario we should now confront and seek to change. We need a paradigm shift in the way we perceive funding models for the counties and the role of Own-Source Revenue in the attainment of the goals and objectives of Devolution,” he stated.
He urged counties to boldly interrogate approaches deployed in the last 10 years in financing devolved sectors and seek to embrace new ones that guarantee sustainability and adequacy, even as he urged both the National Government and County Governments to work together to establish reliable sources of revenue for the implementation of devolution.
“The next phase of devolution should accord itself the target of transforming its source revenue to be the primary artery for county financing, and Exchequer funding, the secondary one. In my view, this is what should now constitute the crux of deliberations and collaborative engagements between county governments, the National Government, and development partners,” he said.
Ms Waiguru said the third cycle of devolution and moving forward has placed a special focus on delivering accessible, available, and quality services to all Kenyans.
“I am elated that the first sessions of this conference yesterday (Wednesday) paid attention to how county governments can apply performance management as a tool for strengthening effective service delivery. Every step we are making at the county level is geared towards ensuring each Kenyan from all corners of the country experiences socio-economic transformation,” said the CoG chair.
She said a lot needs to be done to lift the lives of millions of Kenyans from poverty, significantly reduce unemployment, and keep the country on a path to socio-economic development.
The ongoing conference is themed “10 Years of Devolution: The Present and The Future”, with a focus on driving transformation from the local level, and county governments as the centre of economic development.
At the close of the conference on Friday, co-chairs of the Devolution Conference will read out a communique that will contain practical and measurable resolutions meant to guide the policy, legislative, and administrative environment for the devolved system of governance to operate in for the next decade.
At least 10,000 delegates registered to attend the Devolution conference, which has seen a huge representation from the 47 counties, the National Government, and the international and donor community.
