President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked governors to extensively eradicate corruption and pending bills in their respective counties.
He said the two are major challenges preventing Kenyans from enjoying the maximum benefits of devolution.
Uhuru termed pending bills as a wrong against traders who he said are incurring losses.
“There are still unpaid bills in accounts offices although the respective goods and services have been delivered some for over a year," he said.
Uhuru was speaking during the 8th National and County Governments Coordination Summit on Friday at State House during which the implementation progress of Big 4 Agenda aligned programmes was discussed.
The Head of State noted that Kenya has made tremendous progress since the inception of the devolved system of government which coincided with the first term of the Jubilee administration.
He said despite the remarkable progress achieved, there are challenges that have to be dealt with in order for devolution to work at its optimum.
Uhuru expressed satisfaction with the ongoing rollout of Big 4 Agenda programmes on universal health coverage, affordable housing, manufacturing and food security.
On disaster preparedness, he lauded counties for their leading role in response to floods, land and mudslides that affected the country late last year.
He pointed out that the 'Disaster Risk Management and Digital Platform for Relief Assistance' framework being developed will help streamline disaster response in the country.
"There is no doubt that these initiatives will not only in future minimize suffering from our people during floods and other disasters, but also provide resource-savings for other social programmes and projects," he said.
The President noted that Kenya has made tremendous progress since the inception of the devolved system of government which coincided with the first term of the Jubilee administration.
He said despite the remarkable progress achieved, there are challenges that have to be dealt with in order for devolution to work at its optimum.
Besides the four subject areas, the summit discussed several reports by the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee and those of the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council. Also discussed was a report by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission on the management of the ballooning public wage bill.
The summit meets annually and is established as a consultation platform for the national and county governments.
