12 years of devolution: The good, the bad, and the unfinished

In a country plagued by systems failures, dysfunction and corruption, devolution is emerging as both a blessing and a curse.

However, not optimally, Kenyans have been able to access critical services like healthcare at the grassroots.

Critics and defenders of the county governments have argued that devolution has improved the quality of life, created job opportunities and spurred infrastructural developments.

Despite sparking transformative gains such as encouraging private sector investments, challenges like delayed disbursements, resource constraints, uneven implementation and ballooning pending bills have been cited as major issues impeding economic growth in the counties.

These persistent challenges also threaten to undermine the potential of devolution.

Even as locals continue to enjoy the perks of devolution, county governance is still on the spot for not delivering the promise of devolution, more than a decade later.

“County governments and devolution have failed the people miserably,” Otieno Churchil, a resident of Kisumu County, and an associate of the local chamber of commerce said, adding that devolution has availed resources for development, agriculture, livestock and fisheries for smallholder farmers.

“Counties are not doing business with the people. They are doing insider trading where technical staff take over the role of consultants,” Churchil said, accusing county governments of not consulting economic experts, agricultural and livestock development consultants.

He also alleges that misappropriation of funds benefits governors who accumulate luxury cars using funds from county budgets.

He has urged that tenders should be shared amongst more people. “We want devolution money to spread across young people and all people. Awarding specific people limits circulation of money in the economy.”

Polyne Akwacha, a businesswoman and vice-chair of the chamber of commerce and industry, says that while devolution brought money to the counties, the money unfortunately cannot be felt by the business ecosystem.

“Devolved monies go to ‘cartels’, leaving out the business people whom devolution was intended for.

“I would rate it at 50-50, because the tendering and payment system is not at par, leading to unpaid bills which in turn cause business closures. This is our main challenge,” she notes, adding that the cost of doing business is high, forcing them to take loans from banks.

“It is tricky to borrow to pay tax, it is a total loss. Governors should change the payment systems to reduce pending bills,” she said, while asking counties to streamline revenue collections.

“Governors should look into the issue of paying licences. If we could pay for a single licence at an affordable price, we would be empowered as business people,” Akwacha said, and acknowledged that devolution lessens the burden of travelling to Nairobi for business logistics.

Kevins Angoro, a businessman, says that if well streamlined, devolution will have more impact.

“The devolution system is not friendly for small-scale businesses; not much interest has been shown so far,” he said, noting he has not felt the fruits of devolution as the national government controls a huge stream of resources.

According to Kenya Association of Manufacturers chief executive, Tobias Alando, while devolution has delivered services at the sub-national levels, other counties still lag behind in terms of development and job creation.

“We have seen people investing in hotels, infrastructural improvement at the rural level, industries setting up their investment at the sub-national level. We have seen new schools coming up and the population has grown too,” he said.

As a result of devolving governance, people have in the recent past migrated from major cities to work in the counties, transforming the economy of the county governments.

He notes that wasted projects and investments are counterproductive for continuity and development.

He recommends that, like national governments, county governments need long-term development plans for devolution to see impact.

“There needs to be a clear model in terms of transition from one new governor to another and continuity and closure of some of those projects,” he said, adding that corruption and nepotism need to be addressed.

According to Alando, the revenues shared across counties for the past 10 years have had little impact as they do not complement the investments made.

To encourage more investments, he urges that the issue of fees and charges across counties be addressed.

He has endorsed the use of single business permits across counties to encourage investments, and noted that multiple fees and licences across counties are impeding growth and development in most of the counties.

According to the chief executive, duplication of licences and politicising the awarding of contracts has raised the cost of doing business in the counties.

“Corruption curtails potential investors in counties and compromises the quality of contracts and works.”

Despite the dream of devolution, counties are unable to fully provide healthcare services.

“In my own assessment, I would give devolution 40 out of 100. I still feel we have not done what devolution was meant to do. There is more that needs to be done,” Mr Alando said, also citing poor utilisation of development funds at the county level. “Infrastructural development that has happened at the county level is minimal.”

“There is need for an economic referendum, and a reduction of the number of counties. There is a lot of wastage within those counties,” Mr Alando said.

Economist and University of Nairobi lecturer XN Iraki says that in the 12 years of devolution, the dream of transforming the rural areas has not happened.

“Devolution has not worked as expected, because counties have continued to depend on the national government for funds,” he added.

According to the economist, at the onset of devolution, there was reluctance to work in the counties, contributing to why devolution has not performed as envisioned.

“Despite devolution, brain drain continued. The best brains go to Nairobi to work for the national government or private sector,” Iraki said, noting that the local governments are deprived of entrepreneurial brains.

“If devolution has to succeed, brain drain should be reversed. Devolution should also be seen as an economic issue, not a political issue,” he said.

“From an economic point of view, 47 counties are too many. We may need fewer counties to enjoy the economies of scale,” the economist said, adding that counties should be given freedom to explore their potential.

“Counties were a good idea, but I do not think it has evolved as expected; it is work in progress,” Economist Iraki said.

Nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda has alluded that from the oversight point of view, only a section of governors are doing the job right. “We have others who are just sleeping on their job.”

And, because of pending bills, she has said that no bank wants to support anyone who has a contract with county government. She has accused chief officers and county executives of failing some governors.

“Initially when devolution started, banks would support people working with counties financially,” she says. Pending bills have destroyed relationships with banks.

Noting that corruption is influenced by multiple licences and limits job opportunities for the people, Mutinda said, “Governors need to find a way to curb corruption completely.”

She notes there are attempts to implement a one-licence system across counties, to maximise profits for businesses.

She has asked governors to prioritise allocations to the health sector. “There is need for improved healthcare services. Governors should also reduce the amount of pending bills.”

Murang’a governor Irungu Kang’ata says that despite challenges, devolution has improved the quality of life. “Through devolution counties are now luring manufacturers and manufacturing investors to ensure sustainable growth.”

He has asked for the devolution of more functions to bring service delivery closer to the people. According to Kang’ata, devolution has made education, quality farm produce and better roads available to the rural markets, improving commerce.

As at 2022, Murang’a County used to collect about Sh400 million per year in own-source revenue.

According to Kang’ata, that has since increased to Sh1.3 billion in 2024 following digitisation of revenue streams.

“Duplication of functions is a problem which causes confusion,” Murang’a governor said.

He says that county disbursements are delayed by up to three months, making the running of counties very difficult, because exchequer releases constitute 90 per cent of county budgets.

According to the governor, water, education, fuel levy and the roads sector need to be further devolved.

He alleged that the fight over roads is politically motivated. “Every leader wants political bonga points for political legitimacy.”

According to former governor of Makueni County, Professor Kivutha Kibwana, surviving 15 years since inception is a testament that devolution is working.

He, however, notes that it is a problem that about 70 per cent of shared revenues to counties go to recurrent expenditure. “One would like to see more money and resources going to development expenditure.”

He agrees that corruption and wastage of resources are problems that undermine devolution and delivery of services.

“I wish counties were not ethnically based. People from other ethnic communities might feel uncomfortable, and this is a big problem.” He also stated that influence from the national government on county affairs is holding back the promise of devolution.

Further, delayed disbursements to counties impede private sector investments in the counties. “It is illegal to do anything outside the budget, but some governors do things outside the budget, causing pending bills.”

And as the country steers towards the 9th devolution conference, Professor Kibwana observed that there is no robust participation from the right stakeholders.

“For proper feedback, I think the devolution conference should particularly be for the Senate, Council of Governors, County Assemblies Forum,” Kibwana said.

“If the national government does not see them as subsidiaries, or mocks them, takes their functions and delays disbursements, devolution will work,” Professor Kibwana said, accusing the government of having a big man syndrome.

“The executive is still not accepting that power is shared. The idea of imperial presidency unfortunately still survives in our country,” Professor Kibwana said.

Kinuthia Wa Mwangi, former chairman of the devolution transition authority, has said that he is content with where devolution is today, and despite there being structures and policies in place, he observes that there are a lot of inefficiencies in implementation.

He goes on to question the efficiency and abilities of MCAs when it comes to evaluating county budgets and town plans.

“We said that we need a gradual growth of not less than 20 years, so that this can start attracting the right people,” Kinuthia said. “There is a lot of money passing into the wrong hands, because investment priorities are not right.”

According to Kinuthia, the constitution was enacted to reduce the imperial powers of the president. “I do not admire that those imperial powers seem to have migrated to the office of the governor.”

“I do not think there is democracy or proper governance in terms of county administration; a lot of governors are very centric,” Kinuthia said, criticising governors.

UTILITY

According to the Status of Devolution report, as at 10th July 2025, county governments had received the full equitable share totalling Sh400.26 billion and Sh16.27 billion of additional allocations from development partners.

The total projected revenue for budget implementation in FY 2024/25 amounted to Sh600.69 billion, with Sh222.2 billion (37%) allocated to development expenditure and Sh378.49 billion (63%) to recurrent expenditure.

As of March 2025, county governments generated a total of Sh45.91 billion of own-source revenue, translating to 53 per cent of the annual target of Sh87.11 billion.

At the end of the third quarter of the FY 2024/25, counties reported partial settlement of pending bills. However, as of 31st March 2025, the outstanding pending bills for county governments amounted to Sh172.51 billion. The high pending bills are largely attributed to delays in disbursing the funds.

In the financial year 2025/2026 budget, the equitable revenue shares for county governments had been increased by Sh28 billion.