Hasten transfer of assets and functions to counties

A major bone of contention between the national government and counties in the past 10 years has been the transfer of devolved functions. This should enable the devolved units to function efficiently and fully discharge their constitutional mandate.

The most evident benefit of devolution has been the channelling of substantial resources from the centre to the grassroots. This has enabled impressive growth and development countrywide, which has endeared the counties to the people. Of course, there have been some challenges, including what is often referred to as “devolution of corruption”, as well as mismanagement and outright theft of public resources.

While the two levels of government must work closely together for the people’s benefit, there are still sharp differences over the sharing of resources and transfer of the pending devolved functions. Today, the national government still holds onto 65 devolved functions, denying the counties substantial resources. And there has been acrimony over the counties’ equitable financial share of national revenue.

Last August, President William Ruto pledged his commitment to transferring to the counties all the devolved functions and the assets still held by the national government. And in December, he directed that the transfers be completed within 60 days. Assets worth Sh3 billion previously held by the defunct local authorities have been transferred to the 47 counties, which are the pillar of the devolved system of government.

Since it started two months ago, the Devolution Department has pledged due diligence, transparency and accountability to safeguard the assets for the benefit of the counties. Some 8,000 assets, including motor vehicles, were moved in the second phase of the transfer with land and other assets yet to be transferred.

This transfer has been long overdue and in contravention of the Constitution, which outlines the mandates of county governments. However, there has been genuine concern over the possible embezzlement of the resources during the transition and to prevent the grabbing of land. The devolved functions and assets should be transferred to the counties now to solidify the devolution dream.