Governors demand devolution of all county functions

Council of Governors Deputy Chair Salim Mvurya has asked the Transition Authority (TA) to ensure all county functions have been devolved before vacating office on March 4.

“As council of governors and Kenyans in general, we expect the Transition Authority to have transferred all the county functions to the devolved units before their time lapses” he said.

Mvurya, who is also the Kwale County Governor, said that the county governments now expect to receive more funds from the Treasury in the next financial year as they will have added functions.

The governor also accused the national government for taking over the maintenance of roads in counties, saying it was one way of ensuring money remains at the national level.

He added that the constitution ought to be followed to the letter and the functions transferred to counties in time.

The governor was speaking after launching a fire engine at Ukunda in Kwale County.

This comes barely five days after the Senate Committee on Devolved Government asked TA officials to vacate office after the agency’s term expires next week, saying the remaining time was not enough to consider the request to extend TA’s tenure.

The committee had met with TA officials on Thursday to ask them to leave office on March 4 where they promised to look into their request at a later date.

Under the Constitution, the TA’s term ends Friday next week, exactly three years after its creation.