To continue providing buffers for our country and respond to the cries of the people, counties need a tremendous amount of financial resources in a timely and predictable manner.
The national government, therefore, needs to understand and appreciate counties as necessary partners in the journey for a successful Kenya.
The problems and responsibilities the people and the counties face today demand that we reevaluate and strengthen our commitment to preserve the place of the county government and bestow it with the power, the authority, the responsibilities and the revenues necessary to discharge those roles and meet expectations.
In times like these, county governments may be tempted to do what the national government is doing; which is to increase charges for services they provide to generate more revenue.
I see it differently.
I believe this is the time for county governments to act compassionately and responsibly.
The problems our people face today require that we invest, within our means, in programmes that create jobs and put money in people's pockets.
Counties don’t have to copy and paste what the national government is doing.
I encourage you to be own models for innovation and creativity.
Rather than extract more from the pockets of equally suffering masses, I encourage you to continue to provide communities and families with the tools they need to succeed so that they can in return finance counties without too much pain.
Being on the ground, governors have no time to get into a lot of ideological debates that consume our politics in Nairobi.
Counties should have no time for merely making commitments and announcements.
Governors have to be practical.
This is the time to provide record amounts of assistance to our farmers to enable them to save us from the routines of famine, food imports and food inflation.
This is the time for financial inclusion programmes and ensure the money reaches the intended recipients.
Excerpt of the former Prime Minister’s speech at the Devolution Conference