In September, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the Division of Revenue Bill 2019 thus paving the way for the release of much-needed funds to counties and ending a months-long impasse between counties and the national government that had resulted in a protest march by governors and senators in July on the streets of Nairobi.
Given the solid structures established by the Constitution of Kenya, why do counties have to push the government every other financial year in order to get what they’re legally entitled to?
A narrative that has often been sold to the masses is that of the country struggling due to large spending by the national government funding counties. In some quarters, this has even resulted in calls for the disbandment of counties with wastage and pilferage in the devolved units often being cited as an excuse to champion for the return of resource allocation at the centre – the national government. The very thing that Kenyans were eager to get away from when they overwhelmingly approved the constitution in 2010.
In part 2 of a conversation taped in August on the state of Kenya’s economy and the key factors driving all discussions about it like the constitution, devolution and the country’s loan book, Africa Uncensored’s John-Allan Namu hosts economist Dr David Ndii, constitutional lawyer Kamotho Waiganjo and the country manager for Kenya at the International Budget Partnership, Dr Abraham Rugo, to explore and address these and other concerns.
Watch part 1 here.
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