County governments have secured a big win in their tussle with the national government over Sh272 billion devolved functions.
The Star has established the national government has agreed to surrender crucial functions from three sectors in the ongoing talks in Naivasha.
The sectors are trade and investment, education and health.
Besides the functions, the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) will yield billions to counties to run the functions.
The State Department of Devolution and the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) are spearheading the meeting of top state and county officers to resolve the standoff.
They include CSs, PSs, governors, CECs and senior technical officers.
“The validation exercise has been successful in the [three] sectors. They have been completed without any disputes between the national and county governments,” a dispatch from the meeting states.
The two levels of governments have been locked in a tough fight over the devolved roles.
Last month, President William Ruto gave the IGRTC two months to engage stakeholders to avert a looming clash and court battles over the functions.
“Accordingly, I have instructed IGRTC to thoroughly engage all relevant stakeholders to avoid conflicts and acrimonious litigation in court,” Ruto said.
The development follows a report by IGRTC that recommended release of functions worth Sh272.2 billion from the MDAs to the devolved units.
The report was disputed by the national government.
The report reveals that the Ministry of Health and agencies under it, are performing 45 elements of the health function that exclusively belong to counties.
“Four other elements of the function identified and unbundled as concurrent to be transferred to the counties,” the report states.
The health functions are worth Sh3.2 billion.
“The county governments have been assigned exclusive functions, which do not require co-sharing of responsibilities with the national government,” IGRTC chairman Kithinji Kiragu said.
In education, IGRTC has identified 52 elements and unbundled as exclusive to the county governments, recommending their transfer to the devolved units.
“The national government is restricted to education policy, standards, curricula and examinations. Implementation is a mandate of the county governments,” the report says.
Nineteen elements of trade, industry and investment function have been identified and unbundled as exclusive to the county governments.
Eighteen new elements of the function were identified as concurrent to be transferred to county governments. The elements have a budget of Sh4.8 billion.
“The responsibility of the national government with regards to trade is restricted to international trade. The national government therefore can develop an international trade policy with different aspects of trade that county governments can domesticate,” the report states.
The IGRTC indicates that the overall mandate of trade development and regulation is an exclusive function of the county governments.
The report shows that the Ministry of Roads and Transport is holding onto 51 elements of functions belonging to county governments.
“Six new elements of the function identified and unbundled as concurrent to be transferred to county governments,” the report states.
The elements are valued at Sh10.9 billion.
