Lobbies: Ministries frustrating devolution

Two government ministries have been put on the spot over claims of frustrating the devolution process.

Lobby groups identified Treasury and the Ministry of Internal Security as major stumbling blocks to the establishment of County governments.

“They appear not to have read the Constitution and have steadfastly and resolutely ignored its letter and spirit by taking actions that seek to undermine county governments even before they take off,” said Ms Wanjiru Gikonyo of The institute of Social Accountability Wednesday.

Other lobby groups that voiced similar concerns include the National Tax Payers Association, the Centre for Human Rights and Education and Vesh Initiative.

In a statement read by Ms Gikonyo, the lobby groups said Treasury’s refusal to work together with the Task Force on Devolved Government in developing a common legislation on public finance was unfortunate.

The ministers concerned are Uhuru Kenyatta (Finance) and George Saitoti (Internal Security).

"As a result, the Constitution Implementation Commission (CIC) received two very distinct laws to manage public finances in Kenya," she said.

They criticised the Public Finance Bill prepared by Treasury, saying it sought to expand the powers and functions of the national government beyond the constitutional limits.

This, according to them, was tantamount to usurping the constitutional functions of not only the county governments but also other constitutional institutions such as the Controller of Budget and Auditor General.

Ms Gikonyo said even though the Constitution provides that borrowing by both levels of the National Assembly be subject to controls through legislation, this was not so under Section 75 of Treasury’s proposed Bill.

“Treasury is seeking to avoid controlled borrowing by Parliament through regulations by the Cabinet Secretary, which is unconstitutional and also very dangerous as it will allow national governments to enter into borrowing arrangements without parliamentary oversight.

“Their Bill also provides limited provision for public participation in finance management. It is a travesty that this ministry treats public input with such disdain,” she said.

The lobby groups said the ministry of Internal Security’s recent decision that it intended to post county commissioners to oversee the transition process was unconstitutional.

This, they said, contravenes the Constitution, which has proposed an independent transition authority to oversee the process.

“The government is frustrating devolution through the retention of parochial provincial administrative system which was introduced by colonialists as a use for control and intimidation of locals,” said Ms Gikonyo.

The lobby groups said they fully support CIC’s court action and consequently asked them to restart public finance process as well as ensuring that the Bills developed adhere to the constitutional standards of devolution.

They also asked Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai to halt the process of appointment of county commissioners.

The AG, together with the CIC should also ensure that political interests do not slow down the passage of pending devolution laws which could in turn undermine preparation time for the transition to counties.

“We also call for the urgent passage of the County Transition law to enable an audit of all government assets in preparation for the transition process, and call for transparency and public management process,” they said.