Ruto roots for alternative disputes resolutions in devolved units
By Oliver Musembi, December 19, 2023President William Ruto has instructed the Inter-governmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) to thoroughly engage all relevant stakeholders in matters touching on implementation of county government decisions in order to avoid conflicts and acrimonious litigation in court.
“I continue to encourage all of you to refer any issues, disagreements and misunderstandings that may arise in the course of the execution of our various roles to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms as the first opportunity to resolve them,” the President said in a statement issued after chairing a meeting with governors at State House, Nairobi.
To actualise his commitment to transfer all the pending devolved functions, the President said IGRTC has been tasked to undertake a detailed analysis of the functions according to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution.
The Head of State announced that under the Economic Stimulus Programme, the National government has set aside Sh5.2 billion in the current Financial Year for the construction of markets.
This joint intergovernmental programme is expected to develop 500 markets across the country.
Already, 22 markets are under construction, 179 have been advertised while five are under design.
He noted that his administration has made substantial progress in promoting devolution as a principle and value, pursuing it as a policy and strategic objective and consolidating the gains of devolution, notably through the following interventions.
“For the first time since the advent of devolution, Treasury has disbursed all the allocations to county governments at the close of the Financial Year 2022/23. Consequently, the IFMIS deadline was extended to allow county governments utilise the funds,” the President said.
Present in the meeting was DP Rigathi Gachagua, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi (pictured) among others.