Speaker of the Senate Amason Jeffah Kingi has challenged counties to strive to be independent and avoid over independence on the National Government.
Speaking at the official opening of the First Biennal Devolution Conference in Eldoret, Speaker Kingi said that at 10, counties had come of age and needed to reflect more independence in their work and aggressiveness in pursuit of the goals and objectives of devolution.
“We now expect to see more assertive, accountable, transparent and resilient devolved units that manifest some level of independence from the mother (National Government), we yearn to see counties aggressively pursue more beneficial partnerships, networks and collaborations; adopt a keen sense of responsibility in pursuit of their goals and objectives, as well as acquire capabilities to make their operations and activities self-sustainable,” said Speaker Kingi.
The Senate Boss appealed to counties to explore and adopt novel and more innovative ways of raising their own source revenue to avoid over-reliance on the national exchequer advising them to take advantage of regional economic blocs for shared economic opportunities and growth.
He assured the devolved units and the country at large that the Senate has played its part over the past decade of devolved governance and will continue to display its continuous support to Devolution by creating an enabling legislative and policy framework and environment.
“The Senate remains committed to undertaking responsive, expeditious and timely processing of legislation,” he added.
On dealing with the corruption menace, Speaker Kingi called on Counties to come up with ways that will protect taxpayers' resources from corrupt officers and ensure prudent expenditure of public funds.
“To deepen accountability, which is a key ingredient of good governance, County Governments must be ready to come up with more stringent measures to curb corruption and ensure county resources are used for the intended purposes and for the benefit of wananchi,” said Hon. Kingi
“It would be a big win for Devolution if devolved units moved fast to seal accountability loopholes as periodically flagged by reports of the Office of the Auditor-General,” emphasized Hon. Kingi.
Speaker of the Senate Amason Jeffah Kingi (right) with President William Ruto and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi at the opening of the Devolution Conference 2023 in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.
Photo credit: Pool I Nation Media Group
Speaker Kingi used the opportunity to commend President William Ruto and his Administration for their commitment in the implementation of Devolution.
“I commend you, Your Excellency, for walking the talk in bolstering Devolution, your resolute commitment to enhancing development at the grassroot by rallying the 47 counties to work in a participatory and harmonious manner with the bottom-up developmental model, with the sole aim of meeting the expectations of Kenyans,” commended Speaker Kingi.
He reiterated that the Senate, and Parliament at large, prioritized the processing of financial Bills namely the Equalization Fund Appropriation Act 2023, County Allocation of Revenue Act 2023 and the County Governments Additional Allocation (Conditional Grants) Act 2022.
“An array of proposed new legislation, nearly 40 in number, are currently being processed by the Senate, we expect that upon their enactment, the legislation will enhance capacity of counties to tap into the enormous potential that they have in form of natural resources, inexhaustible renewable energy sources and considerable dynamic and versatile workforce in order to thrive and deliver,” explained Hon. Kingi.
Following the prompt assent given to the laws by the President, counties have now been able to access their funds, and allowing them to provide services to Kenyans.
Speaker Kingi called for strengthening of strategic partnerships between County Governments and National Government and among all other players in the Devolution space to ease the manner of doing business.
“Let’s harness and nurture collegiality amongst us and make the great dream of Devolution work for us as a country,” the Speaker added.
