President Kenyatta committed to devolution Esipisu

State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu has defended President Uhuru Kenyatta’s commitment to devolution saying there was evidence to prove he supported the success of devolution.

Speaking during his weekly press briefing at the Sagana State Lodge, the spokesman said that the government handed over devolved function to counties ahead of time and provided funds as prescribed by the constitution.

“Constitutionally, the county governments are to be disbursed at least 15% of the total National Budget. Currently, 42 per cent of the budget is allocated to the counties,” said Mr Esipisu.

He echoed President Kenyatta’s position that devolution is working and succeeding.

“Devolution is indeed working in the country. For instance here in Nyeri County, Ksh13 Billion has been transferred to the county from the national government since 2013,” he said.

The State House Spokesperson’s comments come a day before the President presides over the 4th Annual Devolution Conference in Naivasha, Nakuru County.

“Discussions will be around the strides that have been made since 2013 when devolution was implemented. This is always an opportunity to take stock and review progress thus far in implementing devolution,” said Mr Esipisu.

He also announced that the President would soon visit Turkana, Lamu, Kilifi, Mombasa and Taita Taveta Counties to commission completed projects and inspect ongoing ones.

The implementation of devolution has, however, not been a smooth ride, with governors and senators clashing bitterly with the national government regarding the disbursement of funds to counties.

Functions in devolved governments in 2015 were thrown into disarray after the government delayed in disbursing funds.

Senators lamented that service delivery was affected and accused the government of withholding funds meant for counties.

Speaking at the time, Senator Kipchumba Murkomen said: “Money should follow functions to ensure that operations at the counties do not grind to a halt due to inadequate funds.”

Mr Murkomen observed that some devolved functions like health were still underfunded yet they were critical in the development of counties.