An Open letter to the Council of Governors and the Senate

23
rd
June 2014
Ref: Senates Key Role in Devolution
Dear Council of Governors and the Senate,
The Constitution of Kenya 2010 set the County as the epicenter of development and governance
and not the constituency. Thus, Members of the National Assembly (MNA) have no constitutional
role to control, implement and administer the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) activities.
While CDF will remain, implementation of its activities is a reserve of the County Government
Executive.
This letter therefore serves as a reminder of your respective roles and mandate in regards to the
control, management and implementation of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). The
International Center for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) has come up with a few pointers on the role of
the Governors and the Senate in running the CDF as stipulated in the Constitution. They are as
follows:
1. Kenya held its first elections under a new progressive Constitution and established the
devolved system of governance. The Constitution clearly stipulates under Articles 187 and
202 the transfer process of the functions and/or powers between levels of government and
the financial/revenue. While fiscal devolution of more funds to the County is appropriate,
financial resources scattered and thinly spread obscure effectiveness and increase avenues
of waste. There is an urgent need for proper mechanisms and legal framework for
harmonization and consolidation framework of the various devolved funds going to the
County targeting different sectors of economy.
2. The Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is supposed to be a constituency-based special
project grant, which is supposed to be channeled to specific projects in the constituency
under the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP). The implementation of these
projects should be done by the county government through the County Treasury and
County Ministerial departments without diverting the allocated funds and produce a
detailed account reports and implementation status of the projects.
3. The Members of the National Assembly (MNA) working together with the electorate
should monitor, review, assess, audit and investigate the implementation of all CDF grant
based projects to enable him/her perform his/her constitutional duties as stipulated in
Articles 94 and 95 of the Constitution.
4. The unconstitutional allowance of MNA to continue administering and implementing CDF
activities has created a proliferation of demands by Women Representatives and MCAs for
establishment of special funds for them. MCAs are blackmailing Governors and County
Executives demanding for the setting up of Ward Development Fund and control of
development projects implementation at the ward level.
5. The Senate should urgently enact the prerequisite legal framework to guide and regulate
proliferation of devolved funds including the CDF so as to bring their implementation under
the County Treasury and ensure prudent, responsible and accountability in utilization of
those funds.
6. The Senate is also mandated to exercise its law making powers to deepen and consolidate
County institutions and the entire devolved system of governance including administrative,
political, financial and security matters. The transition to a fully devolved system of
governance and development as stipulated in the Constitution is still incomplete. There is a
lot of work to be done in restructuring the national institutions including parastatals and
corporations to comply with devolution and bringing Vision 2030 into conformity with the
county centered development plan.
7. The Senate needs to facilitate the building of institutional capacity of the County
governments. This includes human resource, physical facilities and operational systems.
8. The Senate should also Source and tap sectoral knowledge and expertise for County
governments on governance, planning and resourcing.
9. There are a lot of mechanics involved in the budget-making process i.e. drafting,
negotiations, legislation and passage. However, the engineering of the budget i.e. using the
resources available through mechanical process to bake and expand revenue base is very
limited. Everyone is focusing on mechanical issues and not engineering, causing vicious
sharing conflicts. A lot of work has to go into long term social and economic planning of the
counties.
10. Overseeing and monitoring the allocation of the National Budget process and expenditure
of resources allocated to counties in partnership and consultation with county assemblies is
the role of the senate. It should set up clear reporting, assessing, auditing and reviewing
mechanisms to avoid fractious antagonism.
11. The senate needs to step in and kick start mechanisms of resolving long standing
boundaries and resources disputes at the intra- and inter-counties.
12. Creating avenues and bridges for the county and national government to engage, negotiate
and cooperate in harmony and constructively on resources, functions and services delivery.
13. Facilitating inter-counties learning and idea-sharing spaces including the establishment of
processes and procedures of tapping common resources for mutual benefit of various
communities in the counties. It is critical to ensure proper documentation of the
experiences that Counties are undergoing.
14. There is also establishing institutional and socio-economic infrastructure that cuts off
duplication. It should be about operating with less costs but yielding high impact results.
15. Liaison role of Senate in the interaction between the Counties and the international
community including development partners and potential investment/trade opportunities.
16. Lastly, the Governor is the constitutional mandated Chief Executive of the County. He
facilitates the working relationship between the national and the county government. He
consults with the President on the affairs of the County.
Signed,
Ndungu Wainaina
Executive Director, ICPC