Devolution Agency

21/09/2025

COUNTIES STUCK IN CAMPAIGN MODE: DEVOLUTION WASN’T MEANT TO FUND ENDLESS POLITICS
Every election cycle, Kenyans are promised that devolution will transform our counties, better hospitals, good schools, water, and roads.
But what happens?
Year 1–2: Governors and MCAs blame the ‘previous regime’ for everything wrong. Development stalls as energy is spent on audits, revenge, and hiring political allies.
Year 3–4: Instead of working, leaders switch into early campaigns. Funds for clinics, water projects, bursaries, and roads suddenly disappear into rallies, posters, and handshakes at funerals.
By Year 5: Counties are broke. Projects stand unfinished. Leaders now sell new promises as if they were not in power the whole term. Then… the cycle repeats.
Meanwhile, wananchi still fetch dirty water, young people roam jobless, clinics lack medicine, and feeder roads turn into rivers when it rains. Devolution was meant to bring development closer to the people, not campaigns closer to our pockets.
Big Question to You: Should we demand laws to stop premature campaigns and force counties to focus on real service delivery until the last year? Or will we keep clapping as they loot in the name of politics?

21/09/2025

Cabinet Lineup:
• 🏃‍♀️ Faith Kipyegon – Minister of Education
Precision, discipline, and consistency. Every syllabus would finish on time.
• 🏃‍♀️ Beatrice Chebet – Minister of Health
Endurance and resilience. She’d run hospitals like a championship race — no patient left behind.
• 🏃‍♂️ Emmanuel Wanyonyi – Minister of Youth & Sports
Young, energetic, and fearless. Stadiums would fill with hope, not empty promises.
• 🏃‍♂️ Eliud Kipchoge – Prime Minister (Head of Cabinet)
The GOAT of discipline and strategy. He knows that “No Human is Limited” — imagine that mindset in governance.
• 🏃‍♂️ Ferdinand Omanyala – Minister of Transport & Roads
If he can sprint 100m in under 10 seconds, traffic jams don’t stand a chance.
• 🏃‍♀️ Brigid Kosgei – Minister of Finance
Marathon planner. She knows how to pace resources for the long run, not squander them in the first 5 km.
• 🏃‍♂️ Timothy Cheruiyot – Minister of Foreign Affairs
Smooth finisher, calm under pressure. Can negotiate Kenya’s position with grace on the global stage.
Kenya Wins Gold When We Pick the Best. Why Settle for Bronze at the Ballot?

21/09/2025

21/09/2025

IF ELECTIONS WERE OLYMPICS, KENYA WOULD FINISH LAST: THE POLITICS OF PICKING THE SLOWEST RUNNER
The Big Picture: an exhausted athlete runs out collapses on the track, gold medal secured for Kenya. That’s what happens when selection is based on merit. No coach risks their career by fielding the slowest runner just because he’s noisy, flashy, or generous with handouts. Teams are built to win, not to entertain clowns. Now imagine if Kenyans picked athletics teams the same way we pick politicians. The fellow who has never trained, can’t run a lap, but gives fiery speeches at funerals would be handed the baton. Another, who only shows up to pocket team allowances, would be named captain. And the one flaunting the biggest convoy of fuel-guzzlers? Straight into the finals. The result? Kenya would return from the Olympics empty-handed, and the world would laugh at us.
But that’s exactly how we run elections. Instead of entrusting the nation to disciplined, capable minds, we keep electing the same crop of thieves, thugs, and money launderers, as if incompetence magically transforms into brilliance after three terms. Running a country is far more important than winning races, yet our ballots look like a comedy audition.
Look at Chebet, Faith Kipyegon, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, and the other Kenyan gold medalists. They are proof that when merit is the standard, excellence follows. They didn’t get there by buying voters or throwing insults, they earned it through discipline, sacrifice, and results. If we can demand only our fastest and strongest to carry the Kenyan flag on the track, why do we settle for the slowest and weakest to carry it in government? Electing mediocrity and expecting progress is like asking the village drunk to anchor the 4x100 relay. We don’t need miracles; we need merit.
So, hats off to Chebet, Faith, Wanyonyi, and every Kenyan who brings home gold, silver or bronze but most important giving the best possible. They give us a reason to smile in our misery, and a lesson voters should finally take seriously.

20/09/2025

Devolution in Kenya: Beyond the Numbers, Toward Real Service Delivery
Fifteen years after the Constitution came into force, Kenya is still grappling with a central question: what governance structure truly delivers effective services—health, education, infrastructure, agriculture that meet citizens’ needs and aspirations?
Reducing the number of counties has often been floated as a solution, mostly viewed as a cost-saving measure. But this approach risks being a simplistic fix to a far deeper challenge. By law, counties are required to allocate at least 30% of their budgets to development spending. In reality, many have consistently struggled to meet this threshold, with some registering little to nothing at certain intervals. The result? Stalled progress, unmet expectations, and frustrated citizens.
Institutions play a central role here:
• National Government must ensure equitable allocation of resources and strengthen regulatory and oversight mechanisms.
• County Governments must focus on prudent use of devolved funds, aligning spending with local priorities and fostering accountability.
• Constitutional Commissions & Independent Offices such as the Auditor-General, Controller of Budget, and Commission on Revenue Allocation must safeguard fiscal responsibility and ensure transparency.
• Civil Society and Citizens remain the ultimate watchdogs, demanding accountability and ensuring people-centered governance.
The future of Kenya’s governance will not be secured by cosmetic changes like merely reducing counties, but by strengthening institutions to deliver consistently, uphold transparency, and remain accountable to the people. What we need is rigorous data analysis and evidence-led reforms that enhance effectiveness and not guesswork.
Devolution was meant to bring government closer to the people. Its success depends on institutions that work, leaders who are accountable, and citizens who stay engaged.

12/09/2025

"What say you?"

12/09/2025

North’s Poverty Is Man-Made- It Is Betrayed by Its Own Leaders

The Northern Frontier counties of Kenya are not poor because God cursed them. They are poor because their leaders have looted every coin meant for schools, hospitals, water, and roads.

For twelve years of devolution, billions of shillings have been channeled to counties such as Turkana, Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo, Samburu, West Pokot, and Tana River. Yet the lives of ordinary citizens remain unchanged. Children still study under trees in Turkana, some classrooms in Mandera collapse during rains due to shoddy workmanship, and bursary funds are distributed selectively along clan and political lines.

Health facilities paint the same grim picture. In Isiolo and Wajir, county hospitals stand as hollow structures, glossy buildings without medicine, equipment, or qualified staff. Expectant mothers travel for hours on motorbikes because ambulances are grounded or diverted to ferry politicians.

Water, the most basic of human needs, is still a daily struggle. Women in Marsabit walk up to 15 kilometers to draw muddy water from ponds shared with livestock. In Turkana, multi-million-shilling water projects fail within a year because of poor workmanship and zero maintenance. Roads in Samburu and West Pokot often exist only on paper or are washed away after the first rains.

Contrast this with other regions: Machakos has working streetlights, Makueni runs a functioning universal health program, and Kisumu has transformed its market infrastructure. Devolution has proven it can work but only where leaders put the people first.

Meanwhile, Northern leaders parade wealth that defies their salaries. Lavish mansions in Nairobi’s Karen, Runda, and Lavington, fleets of Prados, and high-end lifestyles are the real fruits of devolution for a select few. The billions meant for development fatten individuals while their constituents are trapped in hunger, insecurity, and despair.

The truth is painful but simple: the greatest enemies of the North are not across the border in Somalia or Ethiopia. They are the men and women elected to office, leaders who shout about marginalization during the day but wine and dine in Nairobi at night on stolen public funds.

Until the electorate in the North demands accountability and votes on service delivery rather than clan loyalty, the cycle of poverty will persist. Devolution is not the problem. Greed, theft, and betrayal from within are the real curses of the North.

09/09/2025

The Council of Governors recently had an Extra-Ordinary Council Meeting to deliberate on pressing issues affecting service delivery across counties. At the heart of the discussions was the long-standing matter of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff absorption. While the governors reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening healthcare delivery, they were categorical that the process must follow due process. Counties will only take on verified staff once adequate resources are made available. This includes the allocation of Ksh 7.7 billion for salaries, the settlement of Ksh 9.4 billion in gratuity by the Ministry of Health, and a joint validation of the ongoing verification exercise. The message is clear: counties cannot and will not be burdened with unfunded mandates.

Equally contentious was the rollout of the electronic Government Procurement system (e-GP). Governors expressed deep concern that the process has been rushed, inconsistent, and disruptive to service delivery—particularly in the health sector where procurement delays translate directly into suffering for citizens. With only three counties having participated in the pilot phase, the system was nonetheless enforced nationally without addressing critical gaps. The Council has therefore called on the National Treasury to immediately withdraw the directive and allow for proper consultations, legal alignment, and capacity-building before further implementation.

From a multisectoral perspective, the implications are far-reaching. Healthcare workers are anxious about their employment security. The Ministry of Health and National Treasury must meet their obligations if service delivery is to be safeguarded. County governments, on their part, require fiscal space, legal clarity, and institutional support before absorbing staff or implementing new systems. Citizens, who ultimately bear the brunt of disrupted services, expect both accountability and continuity. The private sector too, particularly suppliers, seek predictable and transparent procurement processes that do not destabilize operations.

The issues raised by the Council of Governors highlight a larger debate: how do we balance reform, accountability, and service delivery in a devolved system of governance? The answer lies in genuine consultation, adequate resourcing, and respect for the principle of subsidiarity that underpins devolution. Without this, both UHC absorption and e-GP rollout risk undermining rather than strengthening the promise of devolution.

04/09/2025

mmm

04/09/2025

Devolution in Kenya: Beyond the Numbers, Toward Real Service Delivery
Fifteen years after the Constitution came into force, Kenya is still grappling with a central question: what governance structure truly delivers effective services—health, education, infrastructure, agriculture—that meet citizens’ needs and aspirations?
Reducing the number of counties has often been floated as a solution, mostly viewed as a cost-saving measure. But this approach risks being a simplistic fix to a far deeper challenge. By law, counties are required to allocate at least 30% of their budgets to development spending. In reality, many have consistently struggled to meet this threshold, with some registering little to nothing at certain intervals. The result? Stalled progress, unmet expectations, and frustrated citizens.
Institutions play a central role here:
• National Government must ensure equitable allocation of resources and strengthen regulatory and oversight mechanisms.
• County Governments must focus on prudent use of devolved funds, aligning spending with local priorities and fostering accountability.
• Constitutional Commissions & Independent Offices such as the Auditor-General, Controller of Budget, and Commission on Revenue Allocation must safeguard fiscal responsibility and ensure transparency.
• Civil Society and Citizens remain the ultimate watchdogs, demanding accountability and ensuring people-centered governance.
The future of Kenya’s governance will not be secured by cosmetic changes like merely reducing counties, but by strengthening institutions to deliver consistently, uphold transparency, and remain accountable to the people. What we need is rigorous data analysis and evidence-led reforms that enhance effectiveness and not guesswork.
Devolution was meant to bring government closer to the people. Its success depends on institutions that work, leaders who are accountable, and citizens who stay engaged.

22/08/2025

County Cabinet Reshuffles: Political Tools or Instruments of Service Delivery
Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka has cautioned county staff against engaging in premature political campaigns, warning that the trend undermines service delivery. Speaking at the county headquarters, the governor issued a one-week ultimatum to public officers engaged in politics to either resign and pursue their ambitions or focus on public service. “We have given you public jobs to serve wananchi, not to spend time politicking and campaigning for yourselves or others,” Lusaka declared, vowing to dismiss any officer found flouting the directive.
At the same event, Lusaka announced a reshuffle of his County Executive Committee (CEC) and Chief Officers, presenting it as a strategy to realign roles and strengthen service delivery. Among the changes: the CEC for Lands and Urban Planning, Douglas Sasita, was moved to Trade and Energy, while Dr. Monicah Fedha swapped roles to head Lands, Urban and Physical Planning. Chief Officers were also redeployed between Education and Lands.
A Critical Lens: Do Reshuffles Really Improve Service Delivery? While cabinet reshuffles are often framed as measures to boost efficiency, the Kenyan devolution experience suggests otherwise. Frequent reshuffles can destabilize county administrations, disrupt continuity of policy, and weaken institutional memory. In many cases, they serve more as political balancing acts, appeasing allies, neutralizing rivals, or projecting control than genuine attempts at reform.
From a national perspective, reshuffles raise a larger question: are counties prioritizing long-term institutional strengthening, or are they recycling personnel in a bid to be seen as responsive? In practice, service delivery challenges such as weak planning, resource mismanagement, corruption, and lack of technical capacity are rarely solved by merely switching personnel from one docket to another. Moreover, the governor’s warning against premature campaigns—while valid—also underscores the politicization of county bureaucracies. Public officers, caught between political loyalty and professional duty, often treat reshuffles and directives as political signals rather than administrative reforms.
Devolution Dilemma: Twelve years since devolution took root, reshuffles across counties from Bungoma to Mombasa, Kisii to Turkana; illustrate the fragility of governance structures. The effectiveness of county governments cannot be judged by the frequency of cabinet shake-ups but by measurable improvements in healthcare, education, urban planning, and local economic development. Unless reshuffles are grounded in performance audits, meritocracy, and capacity-building, they risk becoming cosmetic gestures reshaping faces but not fixing systems. Kenya’s devolution journey requires more than managerial musical chairs; it demands policy consistency, institutional accountability, and insulation of public service from political campaigns.

07/02/2023

Jeremiah Kioni leads a crowd in protesting the high cost of living.