Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Daily Nation
Published on 2024-01-26 05:00:00
The national government and governors have reached an agreement on the transfer of health, education, and trade functions to the devolved units. This agreement was reached during an ongoing exercise to assess devolved functions involving governors and principal secretaries in Naivasha, Nakuru County.
Twelve functions have been earmarked for devolution and are currently being performed by government ministries, departments, and agencies. These functions include regional development authorities, trade, tourism, wildlife and culture, agriculture, health, energy, lands, public works, housing and urban development, education, and environment and disaster management.
The Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee chairperson Kithinji Kiragu revealed that the validation exercise has been successful so far, with no disputes between the national and county governments. The trade and industry function, which comes with a budget of Sh4.8 billion, has been a point of contention, but the agreement means that counties will now be fully involved in trade licensing, developing and implementing county policies on trade development and regulation, and providing business development services, among other functions.
In the cooperative sub-sector, counties will be responsible for promoting and conducting pre-cooperative education. The national government will develop standards and economic appraisal for the registration of cooperative societies, while counties will allow the national government to issue registration certificates to ensure cooperative operation across counties.
In the education sector, management of early childhood development and education centers has been a point of contention, with some recommending that the function should be recentralized. There has also been some back and forth regarding the management of health services. Counties will perform certain health functions such as primary healthcare promotion and ambulance services but will be barred from managing health workers and waste disposal.
Overall, the agreement represents progress in the devolution of functions and responsibilities to the counties, ensuring that they have a more significant role in the management of important public services.
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