President Ruto orders transfer of all remaining county functions within 60 days

President William Ruto has said the national government will transfer all the remaining devolved functions to county governments within the next 60 days.

The President, who spoke on Wednesday while opening the Devolution Conference in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, said he had delegated the task to a transition committee which would collaborate with all the stakeholders to ensure the functions are transferred within the stipulated time.

He underscored that the move would be critical in strengthening devolution, 10 years after it was launched in the country.

“We made a firm commitment to the people of Kenya to strengthen devolution by implementing specific interventions. First, we undertook to transfer all outstanding functions constitutionally earmarked to be performed by counties,” he said.

"An analysis is being done on the funding that will accompany the transfer of those functions. I am told in the next 60 days we will be able to transfer all the remaining functions to our counties."

The Head of State expressed commitment to ensuring that counties receive their disbursements on time in order to ensure the smooth running of operations, adding that he is a strong believer in devolution.

He, therefore, exuded confidence that no functions would be stalled as he urged Governors to work with him to ensure the success of devolution.

“I recognize the merit in demands for increased allocation of shareable revenue to the counties. I also realise that even if devolution is, by law a two-tier affair, it should, in practice reach the lowest and smallest possible unit of political organization,” he stated.

“Delays in disbursing allocations to counties have tremendous negative effects which cascade all the way to the households at the grassroots, leading to poor outcomes in many sectors. There is no excuse for this, and we simply have to do better.”

The remarks by President Ruto come amidst calls by the Governors to fully devolve health functions.