You can count on me, Ruto tells counties

President William Ruto has reiterated his government’s commitment to ensuring the success of devolution.

Speaking when he officially launched the eighth devolution conference at Eldoret Sports Club yesterday, the President said the devolved system had taken vital government services closer to the people.
“Devolution is touching the lives of people and driving economic growth. Nobody can today say devolution has no impact in any part of the country,” he said.

Ruto acknowledged that devolution still faces many challenges but said his administration is reviewing devolved functions in a bid to stop conflicts between the national government and counties.

“We will do all our best as the national government to ensure timely disbursement of funds to counties. We will make sure all funds meant for counties are paid before the closing of our budget books so that they can roll out their budgets,” the President said.

Ruto, who was accompanied by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, said his administration will continue to support county governments to raise their own revenue.

Stern action
He, however, ruled out increment of salaries for Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) adding that his administration will work with relevant institutions to ensure all workers get pay that is commensurate to their job.

Ruto also warned government officials who engage in corruption that stern action will be taken against them.

“Our employers, who are the people of Kenya, deserve the best services. We must liberate devolution from corruption. Corruption causes chaos and mayhem in delivery of services. Mismanagement and outright theft remains a major challenge to devolution,” he said.

“It will not be business as usual. We will do whatever it takes to root out corruption, irrespective of the office you hold,” he added.

The President defended the controversial housing fund, saying that it will create millions of jobs for the youth.
The President said his administration is in the process of setting up an ICT hub in every ward which, he said, will create more than 500,000 digital jobs for the youth.

“We want all vocational institutions to also be ICT hubs,” he said.
He disclosed that his administration had set aside Sh20 billion which, he noted, will be used to build 500 markets which will be managed by county governments.

Ruto maintained that his administration will not continue incurring debts but instead adopt raising local revenue and avoid importations.
“We are not going to subsidize consumption. We need to have a paradigm shift and invest in production and desist from over borrowing,” he said.

Taking stock
Mudavadi termed devolution a “critical jewel for our country” which should be guarded jealously but stressed the need for better financial management in counties.
Speaker Kingi lauded the devolution conference which he said was ideal in taking stock of the success of devolution in the last 10 years.

“The Senate will continue to champion the success of the devolved system of governance. Time has come for us to walk the talk and work with synergy for the success of devolution. We yearn to see a deep sense of accountability in the counties,” said Kingi.

He called on county governments to adopt self revenue streams to avoid relying on the national government for financing.

Council of Governors (CoG) chair Anne Waiguru cited late disbursement of funds to the counties as a major challenge facing devolution and called on the national government to address the matter.
“The story of devolution in the last 10 years is worth telling. There is a need to fully transfer all critical devolved functions to the counties from the national government,” said the Kirinyaga governor.
She said county assemblies should be accorded their rightful place to ensure success of devolution.
“They should be granted autonomy from the county government for them to discharge their mandate effectively,” Waiguru said.

US ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman called on the government to end embezzlement of public resources.

“Kenya has among the best workforce in the world. You have the most growing economy which should be maintained at all costs,” she said.

The theme of this year’s conference is: “10 years of devolution: The present and the future.”
Governors will focus on the past decade of devolution and explore locally and internationally recognized methods to help strengthen the systems and ensure transformed service delivery to citizens.
The conference will also present an ideal opportunity for counties which come under the North Rift Economic Bloc (Noreb) to showcase itself as potential investment hub in tourism, sports and agriculture among others.

The conference will bring together local and international delegates to discuss, learn and share best practices on issues affecting sub-national governments.

The sub-theme of the first day was strengthening effective service delivery in counties through performance management which is aimed at proposing measures that county governments can adopt to enhance transformative service delivery for improved citizens livelihoods and a stronger business environment.