Five governors will battle it out for the chairmanship of the Council of Governors (CoG) after they were cleared to contest the election tomorrow.
Those who submitted nomination papers to the council by the deadline on Monday 30 September include governors Ahmed Abdullahi (Wajir), Mutahi Kahiga (Nyeri), who were the first to declare their interest, Joseph Ole Lenku (Kajiado), Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi) and Muthomi Njuki (Tharaka Nithi).
Those seeking the CoG deputy chairmanship are Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos) and Irungu Kang'ata (Murang'a).
"Notice is hereby given that in terms of Section 21(2) of the Intergovernmental Relations Act 2012 and Clause 4 of the Schedule, an ordinary meeting of the Council of Governors will be held on Monday October 7, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. The venue of the meeting will be the Council of Governors offices 11th floor, Ugatuzi Boardroom," read the notice signed by the Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, the outgoing chairperson.
Potential candidates had been urged to submit their applications for the CoG post, among others, by the end of September.
The meeting is also expected to consider and approve the region to host the 9th Devolution Conference (2nd Biennial) in 2025.
Apart from the CoG elections, the county chiefs will also participate in the choosing of the deputy chairperson, whip and chairpersons and members of committees "in terms of the provisions of section 19(3) of the Intergovernmental Relations Act Cap 265F Laws of Kenya".
Mr Abdullahi and Mr Kahiga said they would prioritise early disbursement of funds to counties and ensure full transfer of all devolved functions to counties to save devolution.
Timely disbursement of funds
Mr Abdullahi said delayed disbursement of funds to counties has affected critical services, thereby negatively impacting on the devolution objective.
He said timely disbursement of funds to counties will help boost local economies and thus generate more revenue and taxes for the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
"When you delay payment of employees, it affects remittances to KRA as well as pension schemes, which are very important in the financial architecture of counties. Delaying payment to suppliers, who are also taxpayers and have provided goods and services to counties, also affects the local economy. So the disbursement of cash is so critical and has a multiplier effect.
"In fact, if we want to grow our economies and collect more taxes, we should disburse money to counties like yesterday before anything else," said Mr Abdullahi.
Mr Kahiga said he would prioritise enshrining the CoG in law to ensure that it operates within the confines of the Constitution to help governors push their agenda for the benefit of counties through a legal framework.
"The CoG is currently not enshrined in law. This will be my first priority. We have a lot of devolved functions in health, water, irrigation and agriculture.
"The issue of markets is another that needs serious intervention. Devolution is 11 years old but we are still struggling to unbundle devolved functions," said the Nyeri governor.
Mr Abdullahi, who is also the current CoG deputy chairman, stressed the need to expedite the transfer of all devolved functions to the counties.
"We have raised this several times. This process is with the Inter-Governmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) and there are over 500 components of devolved functions whose components are yet to be fully transferred to the tune of about Sh270 billion at current costing," the Wajir governor said.
The money, he said, when it comes to the counties, will enable them to "complete the process of devolution".
Mr Abdullahi revealed that he has the experience to take over as chairman, having served as the number two.
At the time, governor Lenku and Ms Waiguru had expressed interest in chairing the COG, but Ms Waiguru was nominated unopposed after all-night negotiations that led to Mr Lenku stepping down to give the COG its first female chairperson.
"I am seeking the COG position for the second time. The tenure of the team we allowed to serve two years ago has come to an end. A new team is coming in," said Mr Lenku.
"That consensus is determined by how many colleagues you convince that you will take the lobby forward."
However, a source close to Governor Njuki noted that he was keen to retain his health portfolio on the CoG.
Previous CoG chairmen in Kenya's history are Isaac Ruto of Bomet (2013-2015), Peter Munya of Meru (2015-2017), Josephat Nanok of Turkana (2017-2019), Wycliffe Oparanya of Kakamega (2019-2021), Martin Wambora of Embu (2021-2022) and now Waiguru of Kirinyaga (2022-2024).
Former Kwale governor Salim Mvurya was elected CoG chairman in December 2017 but did not complete his one-year term and Mr Nanok took over.
