President William Ruto has assured Governors that the process of transferring functions meant for the devolved units which has been delayed for the last 10 years will be concluded in the next 60 days.
Ruto said the relevant bodies charged with undertaking the process have agreed on the functions and the costing.
While reiterating his commitment to champion the success of devolution, Ruto further stated that he has so far fulfilled his pledge of ensuring the timely release of the equitable share to the counties.
“We made a commitment and I am very happy that we have agreed on the functions to transfer with the funding that will accompany it being worked on,” he said.
Ruto recognized that the delay in disbursement of funds has had negative impacts on service delivery leading to poor outcomes.
“There is no excuse for this, and we simply have to do better. It is for this reason that for the first time since the advent of devolution, the inaugural disbursement of equitable allocation to counties under the Kenya Kwanza administration was implemented in full and on time,” he stated.
Last year, Ruto directed the ministry in charge of devolution to fast-track the process while urging the Treasury to make available funds to facilitate the transfer.
“We are committed to the complete transfer of all functions constitutionally earmarked for the counties," Ruto said.
The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) has already developed a framework to address deployment plans covering budget resources, staff, systems, facilities, equipment and machinery among others.
Agency’s chairman Kithinji Kiragu while launching the process in March gave a target of two months to come up with clarity and agreement among stakeholders on the specific functions to be transferred in the 2023-24 financial year will be agreed on.
“Through the program, gaps in the capacities of counties, policies and laws to be amended or repealed for optimal functioning of ministries, departments and counties will also be identified,” Kiragu said then.
He spoke during an event that brought together a Multi-agency Technical Task Teams (MTTA) from ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs), state corporations, CRA, Kenya law reforms, Controller of budget, SRC and PSC.
In its interim report, IGRTC said functions performed by Ministries, Departments and Agencies are worth Sh272 billion.
Agriculture, for example, holds onto 41 functions valued at Sh105 billion while Transport has 51 accounting for Sh51 billion.
Education has 52 elements while Tourism and wildlife have functions valued at Sh31 billion.