How parastatals can help fulfil devolution promise

The debate on the third formula for sharing revenue among counties is glossing over the real problem. The counties shoulder the burden of development needs at the grassroots while commensurate budget allocation has not been forthcoming from the national government.

Ministries still control and get allocated billions of shillings that should be devolved to counties. These anomalies get revealed when there are scandals. A case in point was the Health ministry scandal involving container clinics that were procured by the national government but meant to be taken to counties for primary health care.

Under the Constitution counties are required to provide primary health care, including putting up infrastructure such as hospitals and dispensaries.

The procurement of the container clinics worth billions of shillings, for instance, should have been done by the counties.

The law says counties should get not less than 15 percent of the last audited revenue, meaning nothing stops national government from giving counties even the 35 percent proposed under the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional reforms.

We do not need a constitutional amendment to implement it, just government commitment. With political goodwill, this can be implemented immediately.

Other ministries that would do with less allocations at the national level are Devolution, Agriculture and Water.

Building of water pans and boreholes, and small-scale piping — tasks that are currently undertaken by the Ministry of Water — should be left to county governments and water utility service firms in the counties.

National government projects also tend to involve little public participation — a constitutional requirement — unlike county government projects. As a member of the Kisumu County Budget and Economic Forum, a citizens lobby, I have noticed that only a few of the proposed projects get to be implemented.

Parastatal reforms are also needed to align them with the new reality of devolved governance.

A majority of these State corporations operate from Nairobi in spite of the fact that their services are needed most in the other counties.

The opening of public universities’s branches in small towns has significantly resulted in the growth of commerce and infrastructural development in those areas.

If we want to benefit from devolution then the head office of the National Irrigation Board should be in an area where they are undertaking one of their largest projects like Mwea Irrigation in Kirinyaga or Galana Kulalu in Tana River, and not Hurlingham. The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) and Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) should be headquartered in Kitale or Ramisi.

The headquarters of Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) or Rural Electrification Authority (REA) should be in Garissa and Marsabit respectively.

There is no reason the National Trypanosomiasis and Tsetse Fly Board should be at KenCom House and National Bee Keeping Institute be at Dagoretti in Nairobi when they can be more relevant in Lambwe Valley and Makueni respectively.

Relocating the parastatal headquarters would also cure the high recurrent cost problem where officers basically work on the ‘ground’ and report to the head office in Nairobi while claiming allowances.

We have to open up counties and take services closer to the poeple.

Just a single parastatal office situated in Migori town would ensure that even roads leading to the place are well made. The managers and staff would want to stay in good houses and housing investments will suddenly come up to meet the demand. Most importantly, we shall be delivering real devolution to our people and defeat this notion that all graduates after college have to go to Nairobi to look for jobs. We hope as the debate goes on, and gets concluded, the real promise of devolution gets fulfilled now.

Mr Abwajo is founder, GulfHub and member Kisumu County Budget and Economic Forum