Devolution at 12: Why Kenyans should not be crying about being marginalised

With now over 12 years of devolution, people crying and complaining of being marginalised should be a thing of the past. Devolution was put in place in 2010 to solve such issues of marginalisation.

It was meant to take resources closer to the people, ending endless talks of marginalisation and unequal sharing of resources that had existed for many years.

If there is any county or region that feels marginalised or left behind in terms of resource allocation, then it is due to its own poor leadership since, as of now, all counties receive equal allocation of funds from the national government.

In the past, mostly during colonisation and after independence, some counties were left behind, and no resources were allocated to them, especially the arid and semi-arid areas. The colonial powers concentrated in the White Highlands, giving little focus to the arid and semi-arid areas.

These areas have historically been left behind. The framers of the Constitution realised this issue and could not leave it to escalate further. They came up with remedies to cure this, and that is why in the 2010 Constitution, they introduced articles that gave life to these areas and aimed at spurring growth. Some were even given special advantages over others. With this, they must have made important steps by now, as they receive equal amounts of resources like the rest of the counties.

Constitutional backing

Article 204 provides for the Equalisation Fund. 0.5 per cent of all revenues collected each year go to the development of such areas. Its purpose is to provide basic services such as water, roads, health, and electricity to marginalised areas so that they can reach the level of the rest of the counties.

Devolution itself, which was introduced in 2010 and implemented in 2013, had the main goal of ending historical marginalisation by taking resources closer to the people.

Counties now receive at least 15 per cent of the national revenue given to the county governments, with each county receiving over Ksh370 billion.

 With such an allocation, the counties, especially the marginalised, should be much ahead and not lagging behind. If they are, then they should blame their county leaders or the massive corruption witnessed in their jurisdictions.

Sakaja’s take

It was indeed nonsensical for Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, during his days as senator, when he once proposed that Nairobi City County be declared a marginalised county.

One of his arguments was that the poverty level in Nairobi is high and that urban poverty bites harder than rural poverty.

With the continued disbursement of funds to counties, basic things should not be an issue, whether marginalised or not. Perhaps the problem, for the sake of doubt, may be hunger, but not lack of essential facilities such as hospitals, especially with all the years of devolution and trillions of shillings sent to these zones.

These counties, despite being large, are sparsely populated. The number of people living in these zones is few. The resources allocated to them are enough to cater for basic essential services, but in most instances, they end up in the pockets of governors who are corrupt to the core, leaving little for the citizens. Learners should not still be studying under trees, especially when ECDE is left to the counties to handle. With even CDF in place, the Affirmative Action Fund, and the NGAAF Fund also available, when all these funds are put together, they should be able to solve the historical issues witnessed in marginalised areas.

One man, one shilling

It was even leaders from such jurisdictions who were at the forefront opposing the “one man, one shilling” formula that would have seen resources allocated per head or as per the population, a move that would have disadvantaged these zones since most marginalised counties, especially in the north, are huge with little population. Yet they get equal resources with counties that have a higher population.

In 2025, with devolution having been in place for over a decade, with marginalised areas being recognised in the 2010 Constitution, and with even ways to downscale it set up by the same Constitution, marginalisation should be a song of the past.

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