Devolution under threat, claims Kajiado Deputy Governor

Kajiado Deputy Governor Martin Moshisho claims that devolution is under threat from the national government.

Speaking on Monday, in an interview on Spice FM, Moshisho said that the national government has taken up some functions that should be performed by the counties.

“All the functions that are scheduled under schedule four are to be fully devolved to the county government but up to this point we still see a lot of the functions left with the national government,” said Moshisho.

He also highlighted the duplication of roles as a major challenge in the devolved sectors like forming the task force and working groups.

“If we can release all these functions to the county government, then we can focus resources on one point to realize Kenyans' dreams,” he opined.

Since the promulgation of the constitution in 2010, the 47 counties have been devolved to promote the democratic and accountable exercise of power.

 The devolution was also to give powers of self-governance to the people and enhance the participation of the people in the exercise of the powers of the State and in making decisions affecting them.

In another role of ensuring equitable sharing of national resources, the devolution has been working despite the financial challenges.

Moshoshi emphasized that the delay in disbursement of funds from the national government has been a challenge.

“We also see a lot of cuts of money meant for county government and that hamper the development of the county,”  he added.

“We feel that sometimes there is a breach of laws because once the National Assembly passes these budget estimates, it's against the law to reduce the money passed”.

Despite the evident progress in devolution, Counties have also experienced some challenges of corruption cases and leadership wrangles.

Moshoshi pleaded with the government to avoid using corruption cases in the counties as an excuse to stop funding.

“There has been a narrative being created to suggest that counties are corrupt, and governors are there to embezzle funds. Let’s not use corruption as a tool to kill devolution,”  he said.

As devolution is meant to enhance checks and balances and separation of powers, the counties have also experienced leadership wrangles.

He noted that the wrangles are majorly caused by bad relationships between governors and their deputies especially on duties assignments.

“Deputy governors are rendered functionless, We want the deputy governors' positions to be protected by law,” he said.

He mentioned the woes seen in county leadership saying that governors should have good working relationships with their deputies to ensure peace.