The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee has asked Kakamega county to declare a dispute with the national government for it to step in.
IRTC commissioner John Kimwela said the committee has a dispute resolution mechanism but can only get involved in matters that have been declared by either one of the parties as a dispute.
Kakamega Deputy Governor Ayub Savula had asked the committee to intervene and clear the air on land ownership between the two levels of government in Kakamega county to avoid conflict between the two levels of government.
“We have a dispute with the national government over land and we are hoping you will soon give as what we own just like you have done with the vehicles. We need to coexist because the two governments are interdependent,” he said.
Savula said that although records held by the county show that the land on which demolished houses stood belonged to the devolved unit, the national government went ahead and carried out demolition without any consultations
But Kimwela said no dispute had been reported or declared to the committee about land ownership in the county.
Kimwele said that the committee had already compiled land that is owned by the county and that owned by the national government.
“What is remaining is valuation which is ongoing and will be handed over soon to the county soon. In fact, the register we have was created by people from the county and we shall only be telling them what the value is,” he said.
The two were speaking during a function where IRTC handed over 366 vehicles that were owned by the defunct local authorities to Kakamega county at Deputy Governor Savula’s boardroom on Tuesday.
Savula said the handing over of the vehicles will enhance service delivery by the county government.
He said the county government has been facing challenges dealing with vehicles they do not own especially during accidents.
Kimwele said the handing over of the assets to the county government was in line with the constitutional requirement that devolved functions be followed by accompanying resources.