Governors audit devolution, blame executive for failures

Governors have expressed deep concern over the cloud of insecurity arising from periodic attacks by murderous al-Shabaab militants fearing that should these persist, their economies could begin to suffer.

In its report on the status of the devolved system of governance, the Council of Governors says the latest attack on Garissa University College that left 148 victims could adversely affect economies in counties, especially those where tourism is key.

“We are greatly concerned about security. Though a national government function, the economic stability of the counties is greatly hinged on a stable and secure environment. What we have witnessed are acts of terrorism and insecurity, which have created economic sanctions in some counties and greatly affected several sectors of the economy,” they said.

The two years President Uhuru Kenyatta just completed in office on Friday have been marred by dozens of small attacks and half a dozen major ones.

The governors want him to spare no effort to restore calm and inspire investor confidence in the country.

Similarly, the county bosses voiced stinging criticism of President Kenyatta’s handling of devolution in his two years in office.

They accuse him of sabotaging it either through acts of the executive or the legislature, both of which Jubilee controls. The national government is on the spot for everything from claims of starving the local governments of cash to passing retrogressive laws.

LABOUR LAW

Governors also view labour unrest witnessed in a number of counties as part of a scheme by “big brother” to scuttle devolution.

“Delay in disbursement of funds is causing unrest among county staff. Even though county governments have been allowed to operate their own Revenue Fund Accounts by the law, disbursement of monies from the National Treasury has consistently been outside the mandated timeframe as provided for in the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act hence this has created financial management uncertainties in county governments.

“No county has for the last 15 months received monies from Treasury before the 15th as stipulated in law. The Council believes if this delay is corrected, county governments’ rate of development and delivery of services will be enhanced,” the governors say in the document released this week.

In the past few months, more than a dozen counties have seen their staff down tools to either complain about delayed perks or to demand salaries.

By virtue of Bills originating from the executive, Mr Kenyatta is accused of engineering laws that are anti-devolution.

“We note with concern that there are more than 30 pieces of legislation among Bills before Parliament and or Acts that have been passed, that claw back and recentralise devolved functions,” they say.

They list the Health Bill, the Water Bill, the Mining Bill, the County Retirement Scheme Bill, the Agriculture Fisheries and Food Authority Act and the Wildlife Conservation & Management Act as some of the proposed or enacted laws that aim at choking devolution.

“We further note that the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution had set a timeline of five years for the enactment of all the laws required to implement the Constitution. This timeline lapses in August 2015. We hope the National Government will expedite this process so that all structures respect the Constitution,” they say.

The opposition Cord has consistently argued that the Jubilee alliance was not the best-placed entity to implement the Constitution.

Their position on why the Jubilee Government is unwilling to make the Constitution an essential part of Kenyan life is that its key members like Deputy President William Ruto, who led a No-campaign on the draft laws in the 2010 referendum, do not believe in the document.

However, Both Mr Kenyatta and his deputy have insisted they are committed to nurturing devolution.

Insinuating that President Kenyatta’s government could be interfering with their functions, the governors further said: “County governments are not appendages or extensions of the national government.

They are not state departments. They are legitimate governments, by virtue of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and the March 2013 General Election. County governments are units through which the sovereign power of the people is expressed,” they said.

But through his spokesman Manoah Esipisu, a furious President Kenyatta dismissed the report as inaccurate and misguided.

“The governors should concentrate on their work and stop looking for red herring. It should be clear to all that the President has shown no appetite in interfering with their work,” Mr Esipisu told the Sunday Nation.

Mr Esipisu further said the President’s support for devolution is unequivocal.

“He has shown in word and deed that he supports and embraces devolution fully. There is no function that should be devolved that has not yet been devolved,” he said.         

But the council disagrees with Esipisu.

“Functions yet to be devolved are:  County roads, forestry, electricity, gas and energy reticulation, and cultural activities, public entertainment and amenities. All these functions are contained in a Gazette notice submitted to the Attorney-General by the TA (Transition Authority) last year but the functions have not been gazetted,” reads the

DOCUMENT

As a result of the challenges, governors say devolution is yet to fully address uneven growth and development which was perpetrated for many years by the centralised system of governance.
Council chairman Isaac Ruto told the Sunday Nation that they will pull out all the stops to see to it that devolution works.

“Failure is not an option, even if it means rubbing some shoulders the wrong way; we are stopping at nothing to see wananchi enjoy fruits of devolution. The people we are dealing with here still believe in a centralised system,” he said.

And on a positive note, they said the installation of the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS), which promotes efficient and transparent utilisation of public finance in counties, has ensured expenditure is easily monitored and value for money traced and determined.
“This has improved the level of transparency and accountability in the operations of county governments.”
A number of governors are facing serious allegations of misappropriating public funds as well as questions on fiscal transparency. The assessment also indicates that many counties have acquired kidney dialysis machines, promising to end the nightmare of cancer patients who have been tormented for years by lack of the vital equipment.