Former Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui now says that the spirit of Devolution in Kenya is currently under serious threat.
Speaking on Monday, Kinyanjui said this is evident from recent developments between the National government and the counties.
He said that every time the heads of the devolved units are supposed to get their share is akin to begging while the allocations are clearly stated in the Constitution.
“Anytime the council of Governors wants money, it’s such a struggle yet it is written in black and white in the Constitution. It's not subject to interpretation. It is an amount that is very clear.
“But every time they want it they are told we will not give you this. It's like you are begging and that should never be the case,” Kinyanjui said.
The former Governor added that some of the functions that are principally under the counties are now also being implemented by the national government.
These, according to Kinyanjui include affordable housing and health which are key functions of devolved units.
“Again when you look at the functions, Devolution is like health and housing but today, the National government's biggest agenda is affordable housing. This is a function that belongs to the counties but it has been taken away.
“Community health workers have also been taken to the National government. The letter and spirit of devolution is really under threat and it’s now up to us.”
Kinyanjui said that what Kenya needs currently is a crop of leaders who can defend devolution.
He said such leaders are the ones who will develop Kenya to greater heights.
“We need people who can fight for devolution not because of the positions they hold but because it is the way a country can be able to develop then,” Kinyanjui said.
His remarks come a few weeks after the Council of Governors and the National Treasury failed to agree on revenue sharing.
According to CoG chairperson Anne Waiguru, the talks that had last week ended in a stalemate have borne no fruitful agreement, even after they agreed to form a task team to further deliberate to achieve a consensus.
The CoG chair noted that while they came up with a figure of Sh439.5 billion as an equitable share to the counties and Sh10.52 billion as a Road Maintenance Levy Fund, the National Treasury proposed Sh391 billion and the CRA proposed Sh398.14 billion.