Governors converge in Meru for Devolution Conference

Over 6,000 delegates will be heading to Meru County for the Third Annual Devolution Conference.

Top of the agenda are the health issues that have for time now been a borne of contention between the national and county governments.

On Tuesday, delegates are expected to start streaming in the Mt. Kenya town for registration with the official programme set to begin on Wednesday.

Among the topics to be discussed include managing the territory, guaranteeing sustainable policies, the place of state corporations and regional development authorities and their effectiveness in our devolved system of government and resourcing county governments to ensure sustainability of devolved functions.

Thursday’s session will focus on the progress on devolved functions and interventions for emerging challenges and Sustainable urbanization for transformative development. 

There will be a presentation on a documentary of executive urban leadership as well as the launch of the symbiocity project.

On Friday, the conference will discuss information communication technology as an enabler for economic growth and development, mainstreaming of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the roadmap to 2017 elections.

The  conference will be held at the Meru National Polytechnic.

Addressing the media in his office last Wednesday, Devolution Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri said the conference would be critical in discussing and reviewing the successes and challenges of devolution in the past three years.

The conference, will hold key discussions revolving around corruption, achievement of millennium development goals and the use of technology in running the counties, among other issues.

Kiunjuri further called on governors to play a more active role in the fight against corruption as well as work with relevant bodies tasked with fighting graft.

The conference comes at a time when the Council of Governors has been complaining of frustration from the central government in the devolution agenda.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to officially open the conference on Wednesday.