Gachagua kicks off his devolution role, meets Kisii, Wajir governors

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Tuesday, January 10 kicked off his role of coordinating the intergovernmental relations between the national and county governments.

The DP met Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi and his Kisii counterpart Simba Arati at his Harambee Annex office and discussed areas of collaboration between the two levels of government.

“Today I hosted the Governor of Kisii County Hon. Simba Arati at my Office in Harambee Annex for talks on delivering on the devolution promise to the people of Kenya.

“As per my mandate of co-ordinating the Intergovernmental relations between the National and County Governments assigned by H.E President William Samoei Ruto, we delved into areas of partnership between the two levels of administration in creating new synergies for better service delivery,” he said.

He added: “Among other issues, we discussed realigning our common strategic priorities especially on the fully and partly devolved functions.

“Devolution remains central to the Kenya Kwanza Administration in bringing back dignity to the lives of Kenyans irrespective of their party or political affiliations.”

Earlier in the day, the DP held talks with Governor Abdullahi where they discussed the drought situation in the Northern Kenya region.

“Today, I held a consultative meeting with the Governor of Wajir County Hon. Ahmed Abdullahi. We discussed pertinent issues around the current drought situation and areas of collaboration between the National Government and the County Governments in combatting the ongoing drought.

“Wajir, like many other ASAL parts of the country, is reeling under the effects of the drought. Although a slight improvement is expected in a few localities within the ASAL areas, the January- March dry season is likely to reverse most of the gains,” he said.

Gachagua said the national government is seeking long-term solution to the perennial drought in the region.

“However, the government, working with development partners and the private, is keen to provide both long-term and short-term solutions to the drought situation,” he stated.

Gachagua’s other roles

Under the new government structure released on Monday, January 9, Gachagua will be in charge of International Development Partnerships Co-ordination, Nairobi Rivers Commission, Inter-Government Budget and Economic Council (IBEC), Inter- Governmental Relations Technical Committee (Public Finance Management Act, 2012), and the National and County Governments Honours Advisory Committee (National Honours Act, 2013).

While announcing his new government, Ruto disbanded the devolution ministry and assigned its responsibilities to the DP.

The DP’s mandate includes deputising the President in execution of his functions in accordance with Article 147 of the Constitution, chair Cabinet committees, oversee implementation of Cabinet decisions across all ministries and State Departments and to co-ordinate Inter-Governmental relations between the National Government and County Governments.

Article 147 of the Constitution states that the Deputy President shall be the principal assistant of the President and shall deputize for the President in the execution of the President’s functions, perform the functions conferred by the Constitution and any other functions as the President may assign.

The Constitution also states that subject to Article 134, when the President is absent or is temporarily incapacitated, and during any other period that the President decides, the Deputy President shall act as the President.

Gachagua’s function will also include liaising with Constitutional Commissions and Independent Offices on budgets, policy formulation, and implementation of their recommendations, coordinating the planning and supervise the implementation of development partners’ funded programmes and projects and oversee Public Sector Reforms.

In the order that listed functions of all the Cabinet Secretaries, Gachagua’s office has been allocated two Principal Secretaries which include Teresia Malokwe (Devolution) and Julius Korir (Cabinet Affairs).

And in a new departure from the previous administration, Ruto placed the Coffee Sub-Sector Reforms Implementation Standing Committee under the office of his deputy, perhaps in an indication that he wants to appease the voting bloc in Mt Kenya where the crop is mainly grown.

The revival of the coffee sector was at the centre of Ruto’s campaigns with Gachagua leading the charge.

The move takes away significant responsibilities that are ordinarily attached to the ministry of Agriculture.