CoG wants direct role in World Bank projects, says Kahiga

Council of Governors vice chairperson Mutahi Kahiga has called for the Council to be included as an implementing partner in World Bank-supported devolved projects, including the Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP).

Speaking during a governors’ sensitisation forum on KDSP II in Naivasha, the Nyeri Governor said the Council of Governors should be well-resourced and directly involved in the implementation of such projects to strengthen devolution and improve service delivery.

"If you want KDSP to succeed, the channel must be the Council of Governors. Let us stop having some pseudo ways of reaching out because that creates confusion and we are not able to move," he said on Tuesday.

KDSP is a four-year programme worth $200 million (Sh25.8 billion) financed by the World Bank.

It supports capacity building and institutional strengthening in county governments across five key areas: county financing and expenditure management, human resource reforms, performance management, and citizen engagement.

Kahiga said it was not sustainable for the Council to be coordinated from the National Treasury while it already has a functioning secretariat capable of overseeing such projects.

"We cannot be coordinated at Treasury, we cannot even be coordinated at Devolution because Devolution is not even a ministry. It’s just a small sector put somewhere under the office of the Deputy President," he said.

He criticised the current coordination structure and argued that the Deputy President already has too many responsibilities.

Mutahi called on implementing partners to support the proposed coordination shift and allow the national government to focus on its oversight role.

"The implementation of any programme, be it a fertiliser programme, can only be implemented at the counties. The counties have structures but at the top we have CoG. Therefore, as the vice chair of CoG, I make a plea that for every programme, let us have a segment of funding for the CoG to help you implement that specific programme," he said.

He clarified that the proposal should not be viewed as a conflict between the Council and the national government.

KDSP is a performance-based grant from the national government to the counties. Disbursement of funds is guided by results at both national and county levels, with measurable indicators.

Counties voluntarily opt into the programme and must commit to plans for capacity building, annual performance assessments, and transparent reporting on grant usage.