President William Ruto has announced that key functions that were at the centre of the dispute between the county and national governments will be officially transferred to the devolved units this week.
Speaking at the 11th National and County Governments Co-ordinating Summit at State House in Nairobi on Monday, December 16, Ruto announced that the functions will be transferred by Friday this week.
”I am informed by the Attorney General (AG) that this Friday, the functions that have already been agreed upon will be gazetted and transferred to counties,” Ruto announced.
”To this end, we will complete the transfer of all devolved functions to county governments without delay,” he added.
President William Ruto speaking during a townhall meeting on loans and job creation at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Monday, December 9, 2024.
Photo
PCS
The Head of State also announced extensive consultations were in the offing to settle on the remaining functions that will not be part of the gazetted items by the AG.
Ruto further directed the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee to bring the two levels of government to identify the needed resources to facilitate the transfer of the remaining functions.
The committee will also, in line with the directive, complete the list of remaining functions that should be moved to the devolved units.
”I am pleased to report that the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee has finalised the unbundling and transfer of functions in line with our directive last year,” directed the Head of State.
”I now direct the committee to take the next step of systematically identifying the requisite budgetary and other resources tied to these functions in the next fiscal year,” he added.
According to the Kenyan Constitution, there are 14 devolved functions. These include; Agriculture, County Health Services, Control of Pollution, Cultural and Entertainment activities, and County Transport.
Others include; Animal control and welfare, Trade development, County planning, Pre-primary education, County public works and services, and Firefighting services and disaster management.
Meanwhile, counties are set to receive their financial allocations for the last month, after the Treasury confirmed the release of the funds.
The President also affirmed that the national government will continue to offer support to the county governments to enable them to avail services and development to the citizens.
”I am informed by John Mbadi that today he will be releasing the monies for last month. That means that we are consistently moving in the right direction,” Ruto announced.
”We want to be consistent as we support the counties in the discharge of their functions as and when the situations improve,” he added.
President William Ruto hands over Khs.511 million to Treasury CS John Mbadi. PHOTO/ Courtesy.