Devolution functions worth KSh272b run by national government

The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee has stated that 10 years later, the national government is still in charge of some important aspects of devolved functions worth KSh272.2 billion.
The IGRCT delegation, led by chairperson Kithinji Kiragu, testified before the Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations that the national government still controls a substantial portion of the resources required to pay devolved services.
They requested assistance from the committee and the Senate in pushing for the complete transfer of the devolved functions and resources.
The organization asked to Parliament to properly and promptly include the money in the County Allocation Revenue Act and informed the committee headed by Senator Mohamed Abass that agreement was needed on the amount and timeline for the transfer of resources.
The national and local governments, according to Kiragu, must show political goodwill and determination to overcome the obstacles.
He said that the Legal Notice No. 142 of August 2019 dispersed 59 libraries with addresses in 33 counties and defined the function of libraries.
IGRTC has requested that a conditional grant, starting with an allocation of KSh100 million per county, be used to assist the remaining 14 counties in establishing libraries.
Kiragu also mentioned ambiguity in the distribution of library funding.
“The distribution of library money to the 33 county governments, to which libraries and employees were relocated, was made as part of the equitable contribution to the 47 county governments, not as a grant. In order to pay for staff compensation, county governments with libraries got allocations that were less than the initial allotment,” he claimed.
“County governments that did not receive libraries and staff were mistakenly given funds, while some county governments were unable to perform the function due to inadequate budgetary allocation.”
The ECDE function was devolved, according to IGRTC, without clear resources to implement it.
The Standard