The Senate Standing Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations has pledged to investigate and propose a legislative mechanism to ring-fence the budgets of County Public Service Boards (CPSBs).

During a meeting held at Parliament Buildings on Thursday, May 14, 2026, with members of the National CPSB Forum led by Chairperson Dr Lilian Ng’etich, the committee, chaired by Mohamed Abbas, said the current funding structure undermines the independence of the boards.

The forum, which represents 329 members across nine regions from all 47 counties, told senators that although the law grants the boards independence, their budgets are controlled through county executives, making them vulnerable during supplementary budget cuts.

Effects of lack of autonomy

The senators warned that the lack of autonomy has crippled essential operations such as performance management and human resource training within county governments.

Senators expressed alarm over the emergence of parallel governments in counties, where advisors and casual staff are hired outside the board’s purview. This practice has led to bloated wage bills and a failure to comply with the 30 per cent limit on human resource spending.

Furthermore, the Committee raised concerns over inclusivity, noting that in some counties, ethnic dominance in hiring has reached 98 per cent, a direct violation of constitutional obligations for regional and community representation.

“In some counties, up to 98 per cent of employees are from the same community. What do you think can be done to solve that problem? We must ensure recruitment and promotions comply with constitutional obligations regarding dominant and non-dominant communities,” Marsabit Senator Mohamed Chute suggested.

Committee chair Abbas said the Senate would explore ways of ensuring CPSBs receive independent budgets similar to the Public Service Commission.

“We need to find out how the boards can be given their own budget so that they manage themselves and operate as independent bodies. You are the employers of the public services in the county governments. Therefore, you are expected to operate independently, similar to the Public Service Commission,” Abbas stated.

Employment threshold

The boards were also tasked with harmonising the treatment of long-serving casual employees and strictly enforcing the 30 per cent employment threshold for non-dominant communities to correct historical recruitment biases.

Senator Catherine Mumma, the Vice Chairperson of the Committee, challenged the boards to exercise their existing mandate more firmly.

“It is the County Public Service Boards who should be able to help tame the parallel governments that we have. You can’t be claiming independence when you are not using that independence to exercise what you’re supposed to do,” Senator Mumma stated.

The Committee concluded by inviting the forum to more frequent interactions, moving beyond crisis meetings toward the proactive prevention of governance failures.