State transfers library services to counties for Sh425m
From left: Timothy Aleko, Lyda Nyawera (concierge Mediacom event organizer), Purity Mutuku (facilitator) and Mary Ann Kabuga, a teacher at Blesco House School during the Day of the African Child at the Kenya National Library Service in Nakuru Town on June 15, 2019.
What you need to know:
- The national government has allocated Sh425 million to counties to cater for the transfer of library services to the devolved units.
- Library services are a devolved function under the fourth schedule of the Constitution but have not yet been transferred to the county governments.
- The national government has now moved to properly transfer the function to counties and will now be allocating resources for library services as equitable share in a phased approach starting with the 2023/24 financial year.
The national government has allocated Sh425 million to counties to cater for the transfer of library services to the devolved units.
Library services are a devolved function under the fourth schedule of the Constitution but have not yet been transferred to the county governments.
The national government has now moved to properly transfer the function to counties and will now be allocating resources for library services as equitable share in a phased approach starting with the 2023/24 financial year.
For the first three financial years, this amount will be included in the equitable share allocation for the 33 county governments that have national libraries starting from the financial year 2023/24.
This will be 100 per cent for the financial year 2023/24, 75 per cent for 2024/25 (balance of 25 per cent to be shared as equitable share), and 25 per cent for the fiscal year 2025/26 (balance of 75 per cent to be shared as equitable share).
“However, after the three financial years, the 33 county governments will be required to integrate the salaries of these staff into their payroll, after which the entire Sh425 million will be available for sharing as equitable share among the 47 county governments,” said the National Treasury in the 2023 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
“This is in line with the constitutional principle of transferring resources to devolved functions,” it added.
The Treasury said the transfer is part of government plans to enhance devolution by ensuring the transfer of functions earmarked for counties in six months.
It said that this will be marked by a notable change in a decrease of allocation by the national government to functions that are fully devolved.
“To enhance devolution, the government will develop a framework for ensuring that state-owned firms carrying out devolved or shared functions adhere to the principles of governance and ensure that the principle of funding-follows-functions is adhered to with respect to all devolved functions,” it said.
