List of 23 resolutions from national – county gov’t summit in Naivasha

President William Ruto chaired the 9th National and County Government Coordinating summit meeting in Naivasha on Saturday, February 11, 2023 where a raft of resolutions were made.

The two-day retreat which ended on Saturday was deputised by the Council of Governors (CoG) Anne Waiguru.

The summit is the supreme body that governs intergovernmental relations. Among the key roles is the promotion of consultation and cooperation between the two levels of government.

Matters discussed included constitutional affairs, devolution of functions and resources, critical bills concerning county governments, audit reports and court cases between the two levels of government.

After the meeting, the summit resolved as follows:

1. Every Kenyan shall be treated equally by both levels of government regardless of their political affiliations. Government services, initiatives and programmes shall be accessible to all Kenyans wherever they are.

2. The national government commits to ensure timely disbursements of the county share of allocated revenues, in line with the approved disbursement schedule.
3. That the inter-governmental relations technical committee shall fast-track the process of identification, analysis, and transfer of all pending devolved functions to the county governments in the shortest time possible.
4. The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) shall work jointly with stakeholders, CoG amongst others to fast-track the completion evaluation exercise of all assets related to devolved functions in the current financial year to allow for the formal and final transfer of the assets.
5. That all the existing inter-governmental legal cases by one level of government against the other level of government shall be subjected to alternative dispute resolution as provided for under the inter-governmental relations Act 2012 IGRTC. Equally, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) shall withdraw all matters of county government from the court and seek alternative dispute resolution.
6. IGRT as an institution charged with the responsibility to adjudicate on inter-governmental disputes shall be strengthened to effectively discharge that responsibility for the benefit of both levels of government. The inter-governmental relations Act 2012 shall be proposed for amendment to anchor the CoG secretariat and strengthen the role of IGRTC.
7. For purposes of inter-governmental coordination of security across the country, the county policing authorities chaired by the county governors shall be operationalised within six months, this will boost cooperation within the two levels of government on matters relating to security.
8. To ensure the availability of a comprehensive insurance scheme for all Kenyans, the national government shall fully institute a process to restructure the National Health Insurance.
9. That every county government shall facilitate the last mile fertiliser delivery to farmers in the counties, the fertilisers being delivered in the counties are unique to the different soil types identified in those counties based on previous surveys done.
10. Moving forward on matters relating to medical equipment services, both levels of government shall ensure value for money and that before the renewal of the current contracts, counties must sign inter-governmental partnership, agreements and be involved in the negotiations.
11. The national government shall support the county government through conditional grants amounting to Ksh2.7 billion for three years to support 100,000 community health workers/volunteers, the service and training of the CGW/V shall be standardised through an inter-governmental process.
12. On matters relating to the provision of sustainable water services – The ministry of water shall collaborate with the county governments through the CoG in the identification and design of county water dams including projects under water past chase agreement.
13. That there shall be a developed and inter-governmental framework to enhance collaboration between the levels of government including the national greening programme signed between the ministry of environment and CoG on behalf of county governments.
14. That there shall there developed a standard inter-governmental engagement framework that prescribes the obligation as well as the benefit of each level of government for ease of coordination and implementation of an easily affordable housing programme.
15. That the IGRTC and CoG and respective stakeholders shall prepare an inventory of all legislations impeding the effective implementation of devolution and submit it to both houses of parliament for review and amendments; Similarly, all proposed legislations currently in parliament that are deemed to flow back on devolution shall be withdrawn and a consultative process to be instituted before they are re-introduced in the house of parliament. The Attorney General shall introduce an omnibus bill to parliament amending all legislation that impedes devolution.

16. For purposes of ensuring effective inter-governmental co-ordination of current functions relating to State co-operations, CoG shall in the next one week forward a list to the office of Deputy President of State corporations performing related county functions requiring current counties representations for consideration and inclusion.
17. County governments shall develop a framework on ECDE and seek advice from the Salaries, Remuneration Commission (SRC) on an affordable package for the management of the function. County governments shall withdraw sources from their own revenues to support that function.
18. That the national government through the deputy president’s office shall work with CoG’s respective line of ministries to develop a framework that will regulate licensing of bars in county governments.
19. The Ministry of roads shall urgently convene a consultative meeting with the CoG to develop a reform agenda for the road sector. The road maintenance levy fund allocation to counties shall be considered in the year 2024/2025 financial year through a restructured process.
20. The national executive shall re-look into the national government’s proposed 2023/2024 budget and programs within the next week to identify areas of duplication to allow the transfer of those attendants of resources to counties.
21. Counties shall be allocated an additional Ksh100M each as conditional grants in the 2023/24 financial year to operationalise the national governments’ programme on aggregated industrial parts in counties. The total allocation shall be Ksh4.7 million to all 47 county governments.
22. That the SRC shall undertake an assessment of health workers with a view to facilitate the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations.
23. That the ministry of health to extend the contracts of UHC staff for a further period of three years term under the same terms and conditions.