Over the last couple of years, county governments have made significant steps in improving the welfare of those at the grassroots, with many investing in better healthcare and roads, clean and safe water, and even the education sector.
A report released by the Commission on Revenue Allocation indicates that the devolved systems of government have made great progress, with devolution becoming a game-changer in transforming service delivery in counties.
The report singles out areas such as the healthcare sector where the provision of quality and affordable healthcare has been witnessed, the construction of better roads, water affordability, and investment in early childhood education as key indicators of growth over the years.
CRA released the report as part of the assessment of work done by the outgoing commissioners who served the team between 2017 and 2022.
The report also highlights some challenges counties continue to face, including wastage, heavy borrowing, graft and poor fiscal policies, which it says have affected the full realisation of devolution.
In the report, outgoing CRA chairperson Jane Kiringai says that because of devolution, many families and communities at the grassroots level have been able to re-imagine what she calls a prosperous and equitable Kenya.
“The Commission’s observation has been that devolution is a game changer and has transformed service delivery and development in the counties. The key gains from devolution in the sectors of health, water, roads, and education,” says Ms Kiringai.
Regarding sectoral performance, the commission argues that the healthcare sector, one of the largest recipients of county allocations, was the biggest game-changer.
County governments, according to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, are responsible for such functions as health, agriculture, pre-primary education, village polytechnics, and home craft centres, licensing, alcohol and liquor control, control of air and noise pollution, county transport, firefighting services among many others.
The report argues that governors have, over the last couple of years, made many innovative efforts to improve access to better health.
The health sector is one of the county budgets’ largest components, taking up 27% of the annual budget.
And to ensure that citizens easily access healthcare services, the report notes that counties significantly improved the number of health facilities by increasing levels two and three health facilities from about 8,466 in 2012 to nearly 12,316 in 2021.
“A majority of the counties have bridged level 2 gaps. Fifteen counties have bridged level 3 gaps, and 14 counties have bridged level 4 gaps. Counties have also upgraded their primary facilities to referral,” the report notes.
“It is now evident that Kenyans can access healthcare more easily, due to the increased number of health facilities, equipping of pre-existing facilities, and the construction of new ones,” it adds.
Equally, the expansion of health facilities and equipment has increased the deliveries in health facilities from 37.5% in 2012 to 75% in 2021. The national average infant mortality rate has declined from 38.2 in 2012 to 31.2 per 1,000 live births in 2020.
Under-five mortality declined from 54.1 in 2012 to 41.9 per 1,000 live births in 2020. Maternal mortality declined from 373 in 2012 to 355 per 100,000 live births in 2020.
On roads, many devolved units, according to the report, have also worked on improving their road networks, boosting the economies of many rural areas.
CRA notes that the city counties of Nairobi and Mombasa have the highest proportions of their populations within two kilometres of a motorable road. In contrast, Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu, Mandera, Wajir, Tana River, and Lamu have less than 20 percent.
However, despite these efforts, the report also notes that there still exist differences in the status of roads across counties. This is because most accessible routes are generally concentrated in areas of dense population and high economic activity, mainly high agricultural and commercial areas.
County governments are responsible for building and maintaining county roads and public transport.
In terms of the provision of water, CRA notes that county governments have enhanced access to safe drinking water through such initiatives as the drilling of boreholes and pans and the development of water treatment plants.
As a result of these initiatives, access to safe water is above 80% in the densely populated counties of Kiambu, Nairobi, Nyeri, Uasin Gishu and Bungoma and below 40 percent in Narok, West Pokot, Baringo, Mandera, Samburu, Kitui and Bomet.
“Water is a concurrent function performed by both levels of government and is essential in health, industry, agriculture, energy, and domestic use. Some counties have increased access to safe drinking water, while others have declined over the last decade,” says the report.
Similarly, significant efforts have also been made in the education sector, with many governors investing in infrastructure and other amenities to boost school attendance, especially in the ECDE sector.
CRA argues that many counties have built new ECDE classrooms with desks and other supplies.
“The ECDE facilities have increased from 24,702 in 2013 to 28,383 in 2019. This has increased enrolment from 1,691,286 in 2013 to 1,916,690 in 2019.
“High enrolments have been witnessed in Kakamega, Turkana, Bungoma, and Migori. Preschool, village polytechnics, home craft centres, and childcare are county responsibilities,” says CRA.
But even with this progress, many county governments are still grappling with increased challenges which the report says have affected the delivery of services in many sectors within counties.
These include low counties’ source revenue collection, late and sometimes poor disbursements of the equitable share from the national government, pending bills, heavy borrowing by counties, bloated wage bills and poor fiscal policies.
“To continue strengthening devolution, the Commission suggests, among others, a continued push for support from other oversight bodies, including the Controller of Budget, the Auditor-General, and the National Treasury to ensure that the issues of non-compliance to the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act and its attendant regulations attract sanctions.
CRA also adds that other proposals should be a review of PFMA,2012, to include a timeline as to when the Senate should approve the County Allocation of Revenue Bill.
“The Commission is concerned with low compliance of the fiscal responsibility principles on development expenditure and personnel emoluments. There is a need for further discussion and consensus with the other Public Finance Institutions on the effective thresholds,” says CRA. (
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