Let meeting of governors yield tangible results for devolution

The Sixth Annual Devolution Conference takes place in Kirinyaga County from today until Friday under the theme, “Deliver. Transform. Measure. Remaining Accountable”.

The theme is aptly centred on the impact of devolution on the Big Four agenda. It is not only unique but also germane as it addresses what should pre-occupy both tiers of government for the next three years. There is a case for strengthening and deepening inter-governmental collaboration and creating ownership for the President’s legacy agenda through the devolution conference platform.

However, there are myriad concerns accruing from devolution conferences of yesteryears which the Council of Governors (CoG) must address.

The conferences are financed by taxes and CoG should apprise Kenyans on implementation of past resolutions and their impact on advancement of the ideals of devolution. Such events should not be forums for people to converge for days on end to exchange niceties, make pompous speeches, expend colossal amounts of tax money and then leave the resolutions to gather dust in shelves.

A conference worth its salt precipitates clear resolutions with definite timelines for implementation and anchored on a strong monitoring and evaluation framework. Each participant should, typically, have a role to play and a clear reporting mechanism.

What did the counties take out of the previous conferences, for instance? What action has each of them taken towards the actualisation of the resolutions?

Every Kenyan is eager to have these lingering questions answered since it seems that little justice has been done to the past resolutions.

This year’s conference should, in fidelity to its unique theme, derive key legal, policy and institutional reforms and adjustments necessary for the implementation of programmes that foster universal health coverage, affordable housing, food and nutrition security and boosting manufacturing.

The conference should be a forum to objectively assess preparedness for both government levels for the roll-out of the Big Four with a special bias on the devolved functions. It should formulate an action plan with clear timelines, the role of every player, key performance indicators, the source of funds to finance the functions and a well defined reporting mechanism.

The Big Four will require massive monetary investments and, therefore, as a cardinal collaborative resolution of the national and county governments, mechanisms of mutual financial support to the programmes should be derived. We should see county budgets and policies become more responsive and answering to the imperatives of the Big Four.

The critical discourse in this line should explore avenues for the private sector to chip in through public-private partnerships. The national government should, through the National Treasury, intervene to inadvertently make this model feasible for the counties.

Lastly, good governance and the never-ending debate on corruption should take centre stage as the event will not bear meaning if it fails to assess the threats to the Big Four.

Going by reports by the Auditor-General, Controller of Budget and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), there is a lot to be done to straighten our systems and institutions. The apparent lack of transparency, accountability and prudence in utilisation of public resources has been, and remains, an overriding concern to Kenyans.

The conference must formulate a road map towards annihilation of corruption in the counties in line with the President’s commitment. Governors must not only set the tone at the top in their counties but must also demonstrate personal commitment towards eradicating corruption.

To restore and reaffirm earnest commitment of all to devolution as a crucial foundation of the constitutional framework, Kenyans want to see a difference in this conference.