The Kenya Devolution Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Working Group (KDCWG) is a national umbrella platform of CSOs from the 47 County CSOs networks of Kenya. The overall objective of the KDCWG is to contribute to effectiveness in the implementation of devolution in Kenya and the fulfillment of the devolution promises as stipulated in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.
The group provides a structured platform for coordination and consultation to the Kenyan civil society in the implementation of devolution, and a safe and reliable space for continuous learning and knowledge exchange on devolution. It also aims at strengthening the capacity and voice of the Kenyan civil society in monitoring the implementation of devolution and holding the government accountable thereby enhancing coordination and consultation among the CSOs in planning and implementation of their devolution program.
A survey by KDCWG on numerous issues that affect service delivery at the county level, on the eve of this Devolution Conference established that resource limitations, corruption, lack of commitment to transparency and accountability, lack of commitment to civic education and public participation; county human resource capacity gaps that are infested with nepotism, cronyism and tribalism; unfavorable environment for business and trade including pending bills; and weak oversight by the County Assemblies are some of the factors that have significantly affected service delivery.
From their finding,s the KDCWG made the following recommendations: First, Transfer of Devolved Functions: Recognizing the Constitution is clear on the functions of both levels of Government, we demand that all devolved functions should be properly costed and transferred to the County Governments with accompanying resource. We note that were given the mandate through a Presidential directive to unbundle and cost the devolved functions by 30th June 2023 and we are therefore authoritatively demanding for immediate transfer of the functions and the related resources.
Second, Civic Education: Asserting that civic education is a critical factor and ingredient in governance as enshrined in The Constitution of Kenya 2010 and relevant legislation including The County Governments Act 2012 and Public Finance Management Act 2012, and taking into consideration that the National and County Governments have not complied with these Constitutional and legal provisions, we demand that both National Government and County Governments should allocate adequate budgets for civic education. At the county level, we recommend an allocation of not less than 2% of the county budget which should be cushioned and ring-fenced from administrative interference.
Third, Public Participation: Declaring that public participation is a constitutional function of the County Governments as stipulated in the Fourth Schedule of the Kenyan Constitution 2010, we demand that systems for effective public engagement should be entrenched in all processes of the County governance with the relevant policies and legislation, and inclusive structures together with clear and harmonized formats including feedback and reporting structures and with adequate financing for successful implementation. After the adoption of the Kenya Public Participation Policy by the Cabinet in August 2023, we demand that the National Government should prioritize the finalization of a national law on public participation and the enabling legislation.
Public Expenditure Management was the fourth recommendation, affirming that resources are critical in the reliable and effective financing of development, we demand that the National Assembly should fast-track approval of the Audit Reports prepared by the Auditor General and that allocation of equitable share to the County Governments by the Commission on Revenue Allocation and Parliament be based on the latest audited reports. We also demand enforcement the of strict fiscal discipline in the use of public resources that ensures efficiency through the eradication of corruption, misuse, and wastage of resources.
We further demand that all County Governments should adopt open contracting and tendering to ensure and demonstrate zero tolerance for corruption. Finally, we demand the National Treasury ensure the secure release of funds to Counties in time and strongly recommend that any funds disbursed to the County Governments use the same ratio of recurrent/development in expenditure allocation to ensure that growth does not stall when funds are released to the counties late.
On the fifth recommendation, Service Delivery: Emphasizing that service delivery is the core business of County Governments, we demand the application of National values and principles of governance in service delivery through formulation and enforcement of service charters across the departments in all counties and facilitation of social accountability by the Government of Kenya.
Sixth, access to information: Emphasizing that access to information is a right in the Constitution that has been violated by most County Governments, we demand that all County Governments should on a priority basis establish and effectively operationalize the structures of information sharing and communication to citizens, stakeholders, and the public through accessible channels, which include ICT based, open, transparent and accountable. There is no classified information at Countythe level and all information should be open and accessible to the general public. Every County Government should produce County Budget Implementation Reports and ensure that they are shared with the public.
The seventh recommendation was Good Governance: Noting that entrenchment of good governance is still very low in most Counties, we demand that County Governments should through coordination of The Council of Governors (COG) improve on the implementation and application of Chapter 4 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 on the Bill of Rights, Chapter 6 on Leadership and Integrity and Chapter 10 on National Values and Principles of Governance. This will lead to better services delivery and effective governance of public affairs within the counties while strengthening and resourcing devolution structures such as the wards and village levels as centers of engagement. We further demand that the separation of powers and roles between the County Executive and County Assembly should be enhanced.
Additionally, Inter-Governmental Relations: Recognizing that there have been critical gaps in intergovernmental relations between the two levels of Government regarding policy development, legislation and operationalization of equalization fund, delays in the transfer of functions, persistent delays in disbursements of the equitable share to County Governments, delay in approval of audited reports, manipulation of some key shared institutions such as Parliament, Senate, Judiciary and the National Treasury by political forces and parties leading to gaps in separation of powers, we demand that the Inter-Governmental Relations Technical Committee should be strengthened to iron out the outstanding issues.
Ninthly, Nepotism and Marginalization: Reiterating Chapter 4 on the Bill of Rights, we note the need to ensure its application in totality to ensure that County Governments and Assembles do not engage in discriminatory practices such as nepotism, clannism, favoritism, and non-inclusion of the youth, skilled personnel and marginalization of minority communities in public services and appointments as well as tendering and contracting. We demand inclusivity, deliberate integration approaches, and the promotion of political goodwill and good governance in the county’s public services.
The final recommendation Performance Management: Aware of its value in ensuring better service delivery, and recognizing that there has been a lack of commitment to performance management to the legal provisions of performance management as stipulated in Section 49 of the County Governments Act 2012, we hereby demand the institutionalization of harmonized performance management plans and reports across all Counties through The coordination of the Council of Governors (COG) and Public Service Commission, and promotion of independence of the County Public Service Boards.
Additionally, KDCWG offered some guiding principles which are as follows: First, Inclusion and gender, which speaks to the seven priority issues that have affected segments of society that have hitherto been marginalized, namely; women, youth, persons with disabilities, minorities, pastoralists and other vulnerable groups such as informal settlement populations. These include but not limited to: access to quality livelihoods, health and sanitation, opportunities including in representation and gainful employment (formal or informal), Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), and forced evictions.
Secondly, Human Rights and results-based approaches (HRA/RBAS), which speaks to the delivery of quality public goods and services in the social dimension of development relating to health, housing, education, agriculture and food security, environment, social protection and citizens’ safety and finally environment, climate change and extractive industry, which speaks to the need for environmental justice, climate change mitigation and human rights approach in the all development initiative, including all aspects of mining and resource sharing.
Finally, Effective communication, which speaks to the need for the design of an effective media and communication strategy for the dissemination of relevant, timely and accurate information on the prioritized issues in fulfilment of Article 35 of the Constitution and Access to Information Act, 2016.
The KDCWG concluded that without addressing these issues, which are considered as irreducible minimums, devolution will not be able to deliver effectively to the people of Kenya. As expected at the outset, the above minimums have been catered for in the current constitution and related legislations. The submission is in the best interest of the people of Kenya and a contribution to people centered, human rights-based and sustainable development. KDCWG shall remain steadfast in executing the mandate of civic education, social accountability and knowledge brokerage among others.
