Surrender devolved functions to counties, lobby groups ask president

TISA Executive Director,Diana Gichengo,address press on December 3, 2024, at Serena Hotel in Nairobi where she urged government to transfer devolved functions to counties government. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Lobby groups have demanded full transfer of devolved functions to the counties. 

In a press briefing in Nairobi on Tuesday, Kenya Devolution Civil Society Organisations Working Group urged President William Ruto to surrender all devolved services to the county governments. 

They faulted him of twice “reneging” on his promise to relinquish the services even after the defunct Transition Authority transferred all devolved functions to the counties.

They said the delay has cost the devolved units a whooping Sh271 billion that would have played a key role in “alleviating suffering,” citing healthcare, agriculture and water. 

“The national government’s continued retention of these roles undermines devolution and compromises socio-economic rights. For these reasons, primary health care services have been greatly affected, yet there is no information on any development in this process,” said Collins Oduor, the Deputy Executive Director of Kenya Human Rights Commission. 

“Millions of Kenyans are at risk of preventable illnesses and compromised healthcare access. But it is not just healthcare—other sectors have also been affected, with infrastructure in ruins, because the national government is hoarding funds and functions that the counties should be running,” he added. 

Calls continue to mount from the CSOs, Council of Governors and other stakeholders, piling pressure on President Ruto to hand over the remaining functions, with the process halted even after a gazette notice.

Following Ruto’s promise during the last Devolution Conference in Eldoret, the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) led the unbundling process published in a special gazette on November 27, 2023, but was later rescinded. In another unfulfilled promise, President Ruto announced a 60-day deadline for the transfer of the functions during the national and county governments coordinating summit, which pushed the deadline to February 2024.

Within the period, IGRTC, jointly with the State Department for Devolution, embarked on drafting of legal notices, outlining all the functions assigned to the county governments, a process that was expected to facilitate the gazettement of the transfer of the pending functions.

The process also included a review of proposals of amendments to 94 relevant legislations across
different sectors consolidated into an Omnibus Bill.

“These documents were submitted to the Attorney General in July 2024 and have since not been published. Consequently, the presidential directives on the transfer of the devolved functions have remained a mere promise,” said Diana Gichengo, Executive Director, the Institute for Social Accountability. 

“We demand that the President honours his commitments by fast-tracking the transfer of the pending devolved functions to the county governments,” she added.