Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo-Marakwet are the best counties in terms of service delivery in the latest ranking by Infotrak Research and Consulting.
Polling at 63 per cent, the two are closely followed by Trans Nzoia and Kericho counties at 62 and 60 per cent respectively in a study that factored in how the units are doing in 13 sectors including education, agriculture, roads and health.
Nandi is at position five with 59 per cent, followed by Bomet at 55 per cent.
West Pokot follows at position seven with 54 per cent as Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Tharaka-Nithi, Baringo and Embu tying with 53 per cent.
Muranga and Nakuru counties tied with 52 per cent, together with Homa Bay and Kisii from Nyanza region.
Homa Bay is ranked as one of the most improved counties and it is also the best performing in Nyanza.
Tying at 51 per cent are Makueni, Kwale, Kakamega, and Vihiga counties. Kakamega is the best performing county in Western region.
Bungoma, Kitui and Kisumu counties closely follow with a 50 per cent mark.
The bottom counties in the top 25 list are Meru, Nyandarua, Laikipia, Kiambu and Migori.
Photo credit: Nation Media Group
Overall, Trans Nzoia improved by a great deal in most of the indicators, contributing to a general improvement to position three from the previous 42 in the last research cycle.
All devolved units led by women made it to the top 25 counties in the latest research. They are Kwale, Embu, Kirinyanga, Nakuru, Machakos, Homa Bay and Meru.
“I think women make for better administrators,” Ms Angela Ambitho, the lead researcher, said in a meeting with stakeholders.
“Many of our repeat or second term governors take it easy as the data shows that they relax in their second terms,” she added.
The survey, which interviewed 36,200 respondents across the 47 counties, asked them to compare the current county government and the previous one which was in office between 2017 and 2022.
West Pokot, Homa Bay, Trans Nzoia, Elgeyo-Marakwet and Kirinyaga are some of the counties which have posted better performance than the previous administrations.
The researchers also observed that leaders who had previously had a stint as technocrats in government were likely to perform better than novices who joined politics from other fields.
Nairobi County, which was recently ranked as the best city to visit in 2023, scored below average, with 46 per cent, tying with the average of the North Eastern region.
The top performing county overall, Uasin Gishu, did well in most of the indicators except for corruption. With an average performance of 39 per cent, residents believe that the county has done poorly in preventing the vice.
The analysis also shows that counties that performed well used the bottom-up approach in their planning. This is despite public participation ranking the poorest of all the core functions of the counties.
Many of the second term governors have slackened in performance, suggesting they have probably relaxed since they face no election in 2027, the data shows.
On the other hand, repeat governors, who lost after their first term and were re-elected in the third cycle, seem to have returned with gusto and are performing better than in their first terms.
West Pokot, Kitui, Laikipia and Baringo are a testament to this.
Out of the 13 core functions of counties, education is the best performing. However, the core education mandate for counties is solely in the Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE).
The other functions that made it to the top three are agriculture, and road and transport.
One of the most contested functions of devolution, health, scored an average score of 49 per cent, ranking seven out of 13 in the sectoral rank.
The most improved counties are Samburu, Homa Bay, Baringo, Kirinyaga and Bomet.
Other functions that were studied include use of technology, closeness of government services to the people, prevention of corruption and managing of public finances. Curtailing corruption had the worst average of 39 per cent.
At the same time, majority of Kenyans, at 70 per cent, believe devolved units have been a blessing to the country.
According to the Countytrak Performance Index 2023 survey, 49 per cent of current county governments are doing better than the previous administrations.
Worryingly, however, 32 per cent of the devolved units have regressed in matters development, posting worse performance than the previous county governments.
In terms of functions, education has been accorded more attention by counties, with an average score of 55 per cent. Counties largely handle ECDE, with students in secondary and tertiary institutions also getting financial support in form of bursaries.
Agriculture, and roads and transport come a close second with 51 per cent. Culture and sports is third at 50 per cent, tying with environment and natural resources.
At number five is energy, with 49 per cent, same as health, planning and development and water management. Attention to vulnerable groups/social services is at number nine, with 48 per cent. Trade is at number 10, with 46 per cent, while housing, lands and settlement, and public participation tie at 45 per cent each.
A report by the Controller of Budget (CoB) released in July last year revealed that 19 counties spent less than 20 per cent of the money allocated for development running into billions in the first nine months of the financial year ended June 2022.
CoB Dr Margaret Nyakang’o cited Taita-Taveta, Machakos, Baringo, Nairobi City, Lamu, Narok and Wajir counties on the list of the poorest spenders of development billions.
Others were Nyandarua, Kisumu, Kiambu, Turkana, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Siaya, Garissa Kilifi, Elgeyo-Marakwet, Vihiga and Migori, all of which recorded an absorption rate below 20 per cent.
The Infotrak poll rated Tana River, Kilifi, Kakamega, Marsabit, Nairobi and Migori as the worst in terms of development compared to the previous administrations.
Tana River County, sitting at the bottom of the pile, is led by Mr Dhadho Godhana while Marsabit is led by Mr Mohamud Mohamed Ali, both serving their second terms.
The other four have new governors: Mr Gideon Mungaro (Kilifi), Mr Fernandes Barasa (Kakamega), Mr Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi) and Mr Ochillo Ayacko (Migori).
At least 48 per cent of the respondents felt Tana River government is worse than the previous one, with another 22 per cent saying it is the same as before. Only 30 per cent felt it was better than before.
Nonetheless, there could be a glimmer of hope, with a report by the CoB — review of the implementation of county budgets for the financial year ended June 2023 — released last month showing an improvement in the counties’ spending on development as compared to the previous reporting period.
Marsabit County led the pack on development expenditure as a percentage of total expenditure having used 35.4 per cent of its money on development.
The county was followed by Baringo at 31.2 per cent, Uasin Gishu (31 per cent), Mandera (30.8 per cent) and Kwale (30.4 per cent), which are above the set threshold of 30 per cent.
However, Dr Nyakang’o called on counties to increase the spending on development and reduce spending on personal emoluments and travel expenditures, with the report showing counties continue to surpass the set limit of expenditure on wages and benefits for their personnel.
The report shows that in the year under review, counties spent 41.5 per cent of the realised revenues of Sh466.01 billion, a figure above the recommended 35 per cent of total revenues.
Only five counties managed to keep their personnel expenditure within the 35 per cent ceiling, namely, Turkana, Tana River, Mandera, Kwale, and Samburu.
Overall, the Infotrak poll showed that 70 per cent of the respondents believe counties have made significant strides in terms of development compared to before the advent of devolution in 2013.
However, 21 per cent think counties are now worse than before, with nine per cent saying nothing has changed.
West Pokot, Elgeyo-Marakwet, Tharaka-Nithi, Embu and Homa Bay are some of the top counties that have undergone remarkable transformation since 2013. They are joined by Bomet, Kericho, Laikipia, Kirinyaga and Kajiado in the top 10 most progressive counties.
