Kaguchia calls for patience in transference of additional functions to counties

Nyeri,

Tuesday October 17, 2023

KNA by Samuel Maina

Mukurwe-ini Member of Parliament Mr. John Kaguchia has called for patience as Counties await the transfer of functions from the national government.

This follows the lapse of the 60-day deadline President Dr William Ruto had said it would take in transferring all remaining functions to the 47 devolved units.

However, two months after the pronouncement, a number of the functions remain under the national government although a number of responsibilities such as library services have already been devolved.

But Kaguchia has defended the President against accusations of reneging on the promise by stating that while much remains unaccomplished, the process of transferring functions is still on course.

“Before President Ruto makes a remark like the one he made he must have relied on advice from a technical committee that gave him the greenlight on how long they are likely to take with this process,” said Kaguchia.

“What the President said sits very well with the plans that are there and I expect that indeed the transfer should happen even if we have not done this within 60 days the President had given. I want to believe that a certain rate of success has been achieved,” he said during today’s Citizens Day Break talk show.

The lawmaker has attributed the slow transfer of services beyond the set timeline to complexity of some services that are concurrent between the two levels of government.

He said in undertaking movement of functions shared between the county and national governments, there needs to be serious consultations not only between Governors and the national government but at times this may entail roping in members of the public.

“We have two kinds of functions that go on between the national and county government. We have other functions that are a little bit confusing called concurrent functions which are partly performed by national government and partly by county governments and this is set out in Schedule Four of the Constitution and when you come to transfer of such functions it becomes confusing or complex,” he added.

While opening this year’s Devolution Conference in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, the President said he had delegated the task to a transition committee which would collaborate with all the stakeholders to ensure the functions are transferred within the stipulated time.

He emphasized that the move would be critical in strengthening devolution, 10 years after it was launched in the country.

“We made a firm commitment to the people of Kenya to strengthen devolution by implementing specific interventions. First, we undertook to transfer all outstanding functions constitutionally earmarked to be performed by counties,” he had said.

"An analysis is being done on the funding that will accompany the transfer of those functions. I am told in the next 60 days we will be able to transfer all the remaining functions to our counties," he said.

But Kaguchia has also called for a review for some devolved functions such as health which he said could do much better under the ambit of the national government.

He said some health facilities are currently functioning below expectations owing to the fact that county governments cannot provide the necessary resources and funds needed in providing quality services to the public.

 Kaguchia submitted that for enhanced health care to the public, all Level 4 and Level 5 hospitals should be reverted back to the national government and Governors be left to manage all other primary care facilities such as dispensaries and health centers.

“If you go to the ground, you will find that even though the constitution has assigned all functions to each level of government, the way these functions take place sometimes makes a big difference,” he said.

Some of the functions that are at the national or county government need to be swapped and that is why we need to have a reality check so that we can agree on what is working with the counties and can remain with the counties and which is working with the national government to remain at the national level,” he noted.

Upon the expiry of the term of the Transition Authority (TA), the institution mandated under the Transition to Devolved Government Act (TDGA) to oversee the process of functional assignment and transfer, is the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) which is a body established under the Intergovernmental Relations Act (2012).

Among functions that IGRTC is supposed to oversee transfer to counties include Health, Agriculture, County transport, Trade development and regulation, village polytechnics, county public works and Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE).

Courtesy; KNA