Wamalwa calls for prudent use of county resources
Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa and his Health counterpart Sicily Kariuki at the Nyeri County Referral Hospital on March 4, 2019. Mr Wamalwa urged counties to channel funds from the national government to development and not to "a few corrupt individuals". PHOTO | IRENE MUGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The CS stated that the national government will assist counties to generate their own revenue.
- He said devolved functions are not the preserve of counties but a collaboration between the two levels of government.
- Universal healthcare is part of the Big Four agenda and will be on focus at the devolution conference.
Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa has asked governors to be more prudent in the use of resources given to counties by the national government.
The CS said that the county bosses should ensure funds are channelled to development “as opposed to funding a few corrupt individuals”.
“As President Uhuru Kenyatta fights corruption at the top level we are urging our governors to counter the menace from the bottom,” he said.
He further stated that corruption is the main deterrent to the success of devolution in the country.
BENCHMARKING
Mr Wamalwa was speaking after visiting the Nyeri County Referral Hospital to benchmark on the success of the universal health care (UHC) on his way to the devolution conference that started Monday in Kirinyaga County.
He was accompanied by the Health CS Sicily Kariuki and they were flanked by Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga.
They interacted with patients at the hospital.
Since the launch of UHC three months ago, the number of patients seeking medical attention at the hospital has doubled as people take advantage of the free healthcare.
The inpatient patients tally has gone up by 13 percent while the outpatient one has gone up by up to 30 percent according to statistics from the referral hospital.
“We are here to benchmark on UHC and the numbers we have seen are very encouraging and it is proof that devolution is working,” said Mr Wamalwa.
BIG FOUR
Universal healthcare is part of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda and will be on focus at the devolution conference.
Mr Wamalwa acknowledged that counties are facing a financial strain as much of their budgetary allocation is channelled to paying salaries. He said that funds to counties will gradually be increased.
The CS stated that the national government will assist counties to generate their own revenue.
He urged the counties to embrace technology to improve their revenue generation and management, noting that only 14 out of the 47 counties have digitised their revenue collection.
“We all need to digitise the records of the defunct local authorities to manage source revenue,” he added.
But he maintained that the devolved functions are not the preserve of counties but a collaboration between the two levels of government.
