The Council of Governors leadership held a meeting with the United States of America Ambassador to Kenya Amb. Robert F. Godec to review the collaboration with the US Government. The meeting also discussed the way forward for this second phase of Devolution implementation in Kenya. The Council of Governors and the United States have been great partners in the implementation of devolution in Kenya especially through the US – AHADI programme. “Thank you for the support you have accorded us in implementation of devolution in Kenya and also the Council through secondment of staff and technical support provide over the years.” Said Chairman Nanok to the US Embassy delegation led by Amb. Godec.
The Chairman further indicated that capacity building of the Council of Governors secretariat is a key priority during this second phase of the Devolution implementation process. The Council secretariat provides a lot of technical support to the counties therefore a stronger secretariat would translate to stronger counties and devolution as a whole. H.E Nanok further stated that the Council seeks to collaborate more with National Government to ensure better intergovernmental relations between the two levels of government.
Ambassador Godec emphasized that the US Government believes that Devolution is the best and most important thing to happen in Kenya a very long time. “We are happy to continue supporting the devolution implementation process” he said. The US government has invested over 100 million dollars in Kenya through various programs and encouraged Counties to look further than the US Government and engage and foster partnerships with US based investors and institutions and counties for more development opportunities.
In the second phase of Devolution, the Council of Governors plans to use the seven economic blocs established as centres for economic and investment opportunities. It is the hope of County Governments that this approach will ensure they gain more value and allow for the Government and Private sector to come together to develop the counties.

H.E. Prof Paul Chepkowny, Chair of the Education, Youth, Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services committee pointed out that that Gender and Youth are two areas that the Counties are focusing on. “We need to give it a more serious approach and strategy because the youth are not getting the attention they require. We are losing them to radicalisation, drugs and alcohol”. Supported H.E. Francis Kimemia. The meeting agreed that there is a need to incorporate programs through the Vocational training Institutes where the youth can gain skills that will allow them achieve economic empowerment.
Monitoring and evaluation is important to projects and investments. H.E Kuti emphasised that it is important to develop systems to track results. “We need to look into developing tangible delivery systems that allow us to track results.” The point was reiterated by H.E. Laboso saying it is important that going forward, there is need to focus on where we money is put, and that the impact of service delivery needs to be monitored closely and evaluated.

On Tuesday 18th December 2017, the 47 County Governments signed Recognition Agreements with the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) at the Council of Governors offices. This came in after the signing of the Return to Work Formula on 5th October 2017 which saw the end of the 25 day long strike. The signing of the Recognition Agreements (RA) is the first step towards entering into a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). This marked a great milestone in the important process of resolving the human resource challenges in the Kenyan Health sector.
Present during the ceremony was the Chairman, Council of Governors H.E Josphat Nanok, County Public Service Boards, County Secretaries, County Executive Committee Members and Chief Officers in charge of Health as well as officials from the Kenya National Union of Clinical Officers.
Speaking during the event, H.E. Josphat Nanok thanked KUCO for adopting a cordial approach and exercising patience during the whole process with the sole aim of finding a lasting solution on the industrial issues. He also appealed to the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers to adopt a cordial approach in handling industrial issues which create an enabling environment for negotiations as well as ensures that healthcare service provision is not affected.
The Recognition Agreement touches on issues of the union’s recognition by the Counties, negotiations procedure which includes; individual grievances, collective grievances, monthly subscription fees, provisions for union officials, dispute settlement, termination clauses and channels of communication which should be addressed in writing to the County Chief Officer Health and the General Secretary.
"We urge governors to employ more clinicians to address the shortage of workers in some counties. We keep hearing of under staffing yet out of the 20,000 trained clinical officers, only 6,000 are employed. This translates to a ratio of 10 clinicians against 100,000 patients when the World Health Organization recommends 40 officers for the same population." said George Gibore, Secretary General KUCO.
The Council of Governors in conjunction with the negotiating team is working towards ensuring that Collective Bargaining Agreement will be signed with all the 47 County Governments.

As the Country ushered in the second cycle of County Governments, it became necessary to ensure a smooth transition for the new officials taking over the management of the day to day running’s in the counties. The Council of Governors therefore conducted orientation induction meetings for various county officials from 4th to 11th December 2017 in Nairobi County. They included; County Liaison Officers, County Secretaries, Governors Personal Assistants, Chiefs of Staffs and County Executive Officers.
The main agenda of the induction was to enlighten the county officials on matters devolution and the support the Council of Governors offers to the County Governments to make their work easier. Additionally, the meetings reviewed the past 5years and acknowledged the successes and areas of improvement to further make devolution a success. Development partners were equally present to expound on their working relationship with Counties, ongoing projects and their expectations moving forward.
During the County Executives induction meeting that brought together all the CECs from all the sectors within the 47 counties elections were held to appoint heads of the various caucuses.The County Executives caucus officials appointed were; Charles Birech (Kericho County) chairman, Achie Ojang’ (Kisumu County) Vice Chairperson, Annette Muriuki (Laikipia County) as the Secretary, Dr. Mulwa Andrew (Makueni County) as the Deputy Secretary, Dr. Adan Kanam (Marsabit County) as the Treasurer and Bigvai Mwalema from Taita Taveta County and Marita Agufana from Vihiga County as members.
Committees that managed to elect their officials included; Education, Gender, Youth, Sports, Culture & Social Services committee, Infrastructure, Energy and Roads Committee, Agriculture Committee, Trade, Investment & Industry committee, ICT Committee, Health Committee, Lands Planning & Urban Development Committee, Tourism & Wildlife Committee, Finance & Economic Planning committee, Natural Resource Management Committee, Public Service & Administration Committee.
From the meeting, participants called for more structured engagement between the committee leaders and the Council of Governors in order to advance the devolution agenda. They also requested for a comprehensive induction to help further to enable them understand their roles. In view of the disputes that arose in the previous cycle, all agreed to have the COG to play the role of a conflict resolver to mitigate the disputes that arise amongst the counties.
The Council of Governors will therefore work together with both Kenya School of Government and produce 2018 induction programs that would be effective for the County Executives. The Council of Governors is willing and happy to work with all County officials to ensure that the Devolution goals set are achieved

In a full council meeting at Diani Reef Hotel the Council of Governors elected new leadership to spearhead the council's mandate.
The Governors conducted elections and ushered in executive team through consensus as is enshrined in the Intergovernmental Relations Act Section 19. The team comprising of the Chairman, Vice chairperson and chief whip will steer the agenda of Devolution and operations of the CoG. They are aided by chairpersons of the 18 technical committees through which the Council operates.
Through consensus the Council of Governors unanimously elected H.E Governor, Josphat Nanok of Turkana County will be the Chairperson of the Council of Governors for six months to complete his 1 year term. After which H.E Governor Salim Mvurya of Kwale County will take over. H.E Anne Waiguru of Kirinyaga County is the Vice-Chairperson while H.E Mohamud Mohamed Ali of Marsabit County the Chief Whip of the Council of Governors.
During his inaugural speech as the continuing Chairperson of the Council of Governors, the Chairperson took time to explain Council of Governors leadership and its meaning. “The Chair of the Council is a bipartisan post, the unifying factor and the national level public face of those tasked to implement devolved functions. For this reason, I will ensure that I do everything in this new tenure to make your support be one that you can be proud of,” stated the chairman.
HE Josphat Nanok continued to elaborate how the Council of Governors works and the reason each technical committee is headed by a chairperson. “The Council of Governors operates similar to the United Nations, where the United Nations General Assembly and Secretary General must proffer and communicate general consensus of all member of the UN system.” stated the Chairman Council of Governors.
A full list of the committee members is available here

The newly elected and re-elected Governors and Deputy Governors on 14th – 16th December met in Diani for their induction meeting. This was the second induction meeting since the inception of devolution.
The meeting was organized to provide basic information on County Government structures and processes and enhance County officials’ understanding and appreciation of devolution as a system of governance, self-governance and participation of the people in decision making, social and economic development, protection of the rights of minorities and marginalized groups, accessibility of services, and public accountability.
H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of Kenya who officially opened the forum recognized the fact that truly devolution is working. “There is no doubt much has been achieved in the last four and a half years. We have much to be proud of; I have said it before and I will repeat it here: devolution is working” the President remarked.
He noted that in the true spirit of devolution, service delivery has been brought closer to the people and that County Governments have empowered the people more than the many years of centralized governance.
“We have turned every county into an important cog in the wheel of our collective aspirations as a nation; every county is now a full-fledged center for economic development. This time, no one has been left behind on the road to prosperity.” said Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta.

Still speaking at the opening ceremony of the Governors and Deputy Governors induction meeting, the Commander in Chief of the Defense forces mentioned what he termed as the devolution deal. He proposed to County Governments a resource sharing formula to devolve funds further to the ward level. “The devolution deal here is this: Can county governments adopt elements of the resource allocation formula so that sub counties, wards and villages receive allocations from the center? The potential impact in the next five years, I believe, would be enormous.” He suggested.

The Meeting
The three days meeting exposed the Governors and Deputy Governors to issues that will help them streamline governance and structures at the County Level. The seven part programme exposed County leadership to issues ranging from Intergovernmental relations, managing human resource, public finance management, county planning and performance management to role of development partners and private sector in devolution, accountability, oversight and good governance and leadership and integrity.
The induction gives a smooth transition from the first devolution regime to the second generation leadership of the devolved units. The electorate at this point expect delivery from all County Governments unlike before when the structures of governance were not so clear. The transition period from the centralized system of governance to devolved system was over in 2016.
“The transition period ended on 4th March, 2016 meaning that all functions assigned to County Governments under the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, are now squarely under the purview of the County Governments,” said H.E. Josphat Nanok, Chairman Council of Governors.
Speakers and experts from different fields were present to take the Governors through various sessions giving guidance and substantial advice.
The 42 Governors present at the meeting had the chance to ask questions and learn from each other on best/good practices, experiences and challenges faced during the first phase of devolution.
“The achievements that you now witness in sectors like health, agriculture, roads, early childhood education and provision of water are a true manifestation of the objects of devolution contemplated in Article 174 of the Constitution. More and more citizens are participating in decision-making, local economies are growing faster than ever before and uplifting millions of livelihoods across the country, basic services are now closer to the people and resources are finally trickling down to the villages.” HE Josphat Nanok.
The meeting was officially closed by the Deputy President of Kenya HE William Ruto who also officially unveiled Council of Governors new leadership.

The Council of Governors held an Extra Ordinary meeting to discuss pertinent issues ahead of the Governors and Deputy Governors induction meeting scheduled for 14th – 16th December, Kwale County.
Top on the agenda of the meeting were Analysis ongoing preparation of the nurses Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), Amendment to the CARA to incorporate World Bank monies for Urban Development, Centralized of procurement of cancer drugs and supplies through Ministry of Health and Other Urgent Matters including the Kenya Urban Support Program, and the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research.
The meeting was graced by guests from the World Bank on behalf of the Kenya Urban Support Program (KUSP), representatives from KIPPRA, and representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates.
The World Bank representatives at the meeting on behalf of the Kenya Urban Support Program briefed the Governors on the program which is going to support 45 Counties to a tune of Ksh 270 Billion directly for urban infrastructure development.
HE Nanok, Chairman Council of Governors said “Governors, in recognizing the importance of urban areas and cities in economic development, welcome the programme which will be implemented for a period of six years. Furthermore, as Counties develop their County Integrated Development Plans and other sectoral plans at the beginning of this regime, this programme will contribute significantly in the fulfilment of the said plans.”
The Council urged the Senate to quickly amend the County Allocation of Revenue Act (CARA) to include the projected US$ 22.3 million for the next three years and US $9 million for the financial year 2017/2018. This will enable the County Governments to proceed and budget their respective allocations for implementation of the urban programme.

In order for County Governments to plan for service delivery, it is important that the program is backed by data generated from quality research. Knowledge of how many households a County has is critical information to assist a County budget appropriately for its health programmes. In this regard, the Council of Governors resolved to cooperate with KIPPRA in order to support County Governments in developing evidence-based, data-driven policy and legal frameworks.
The nurses CBA remains to be a pertinent issue to the Council of Governors. The negotiations of the Nurses Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) are almost finalised. The Council of Governors endorsed the draft document and the negotiating team will proceed to finalize the process and have the CBA registered in the Labour court. The Council resolved to jointly with the National Government examine the gaps in the regulatory framework that governs that Industrial disputes in order to avert future strikes in any sector.
The Constitution of Kenya 2010 devolved several functions among them the health function. The essence and direct goal of devolution is to improve service delivery by bringing the services closer to the people. The Ministry of Health proposed that in light of the country’s cancer care burden, that they handle cancer treatment and management. Discussions among the Governors resolved that this reversal would be at the disadvantage of Kenyans. It will recentralise equipment and cancer care. A patient in Garissa will have to travel to Nairobi to access cancer services. What County Governments need is adequate funding for equipment and comprehensive capacity building for specialists at the County level. It was in on this consideration that the Council of Governors resolved that that monies for cancer drugs should be disbursed as a conditional grant.
The meeting also agreed that Governors apply themselves as instruments of peace in the country in light of the prevailing political circumstances. “We are leaders on our right and therefore implore on all leaders to come together and seek ways to cool political temperatures.’’ Said the Chairman of the Council in a statement.
The Council called upon all political leaders to support peace and unity. They reiterated that “We must all seek dialogue and resist from perpetuating polarized agendas. This is the only way we will refocus our energies on development. As Governors, our position is that Kenya must remain united and cohesive for this and future generations. We want peace, unity and cohesion. We will not stand by as the country gets torn apart by ethnicity and tribal politics.’’
The Council therefore established a committee to spearhead the agenda on national reconciliation, dialogue and healing. The members are follows:
1. H.E Josphat Nanok
2. H.E Kiraitu Murungi
3. H.E Salim Mvurya
4. H.E.Kivutha Kibwana
5. H.E Wyclifee Oparanya
6. H.E.Joyce Laboso
7. H.E.Jackson Mandago
8. H.E.Charity Ngilu
9. H.E.Francis Kimemia.
10. H.E Cornel Rasanga

The Council of Governors Secretariat held its first ever Devolution Sensitisation Week on the 6th- 8th December at the Kencom Bus Stage.
The three days event was organised by the Council of Governors to create a platform for the public learn about the Council of Governors through its technical committees, its mandate and the County best practices achieved through the technical committees.
HE Mike Sonko, who officially opened the event could not hide his joy, appreciating the opportunity to host the inaugural Devolution Sensitisation Week.
“Allow me to begin by sincerely thanking the Council of Governors for choosing Nairobi City County to host the first Devolution Sensitization Week” said HE Sonko.
“Without strict adherence to the law, service delivery shall never be effective. We must therefore invest heavily in improving service delivery, particularly in areas which have immediate impact on the common Kenyan like education, infrastructure, health, water and agriculture” continued Governor Sonko.
It was at this very event that HE Mike Sonko and the general public had the opportunity to meet the Nairobi County Queens. The team is a group of young girls who are former street girls currently doing big in the football field. This year, the team participated in the 2017 Homeless world Cup where they emerged third out of the 18 Nations represented in the event. The Council of Governors was willing to give the girls a platform to showcase their talent to both the Governor and the public at large. The team proceeds to Japan in 2018 for the Homeless World Cup where they promised to perform even better.
The Governor, as a sign of blessing and best wishes to the team displayed his ability of handling the ball.
The Devolution Sensitisation Week was also a platform for the Council of Governors to share information on the achievements by the County Governments since the advent of Devolution in line with its mandate as enshrined in Section 20 of the Intergovernmental Relation Act, 2012.
“In line with COG’s mandate which is ‘To share information and best practices on performance of Counties in executing their functions with the objective of learning and promotion of best practices and where necessary, initiating preventive or corrective action’, this event is important because as the secretariat and the technical team that supports the Council of Governors, we get an opportunity to interact with the public to get feedback on how we can serve you better” remarked the Council of Governors CEO Mrs. Jacqueline Mogeni.
Some of the participants in the Devolution Sensitization Week were Nairobi County, who educated the public about some of their services and to address issues of service delivery in various sectors, Kenya National Blood Transfusion Services, conducted a blood drive that would boost the National Blood Bank, Women4Cancer who were present to raise awareness on the various cancers and to conduct free breast cancer screening for both women and men. During the Devolution Sensitisation Week, Women for Cancer set a record - screening the highest number of men for breast cancer. Confirming the record, women for cancer Director Ms. Catherine said that during the three days, they had managed to screen more than fifty men for breast cancer a number they had not seen in any other event.
The office of the Ombudsman was also present to address grievances that the public had with both the National government and County Governments, and to share some of their key reports. Homeboyz Entertainment and Chairmania events limited were present and the public had the rare chance to interact with them and learn of their products and services.
After 3 days, the event came to a close with a promise to the public to implement the recommendations collected to improve service delivery through the County Governments and the technical committees.

The Council of Governors (COG) and the Government of India through the High Commission of India has embarked on building capacity for staff across 47 County Governments.

Through collaboration with COG, the Government of India is training County officers on Wind Turbine Technology, Wind Energy, and Entrepreneurship and Marketing skills development.

The short courses which last for a month are sponsored by the Government of India.  The 13 officers are attending courses at the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Patancheru, Telengana, India and National Institute of Wind Energy, Chennai, India.

The officer travelled to India on 20^th November. It is expected that the knowledge acquired will be cascaded to other officers in County Governments in a bid to improve  service delivery.

The officers are Ms Annpatliz Mwihaki (Council of Governors), Mr. Hezborn Orina Obara (Kisii County), Mr. Anthony Wacira and Sospeter Kibe Muiruri (Nyeri County), Mr. Edgar Nawera Wegulo and Hillary Shikuba (Kakamega County), Mr. Lotuko Sospeter (Turkana County) and Mr. Sammy Ngige Kimani (Nakuru County) are in India for the training on Wind Turbine Technology and applications.

Others are Ms. Beth Njeri Karuma (Nyeri County), Moses Njenga Njogu (Nakuru County), Ms. Christine Namaemba, Ms. Eliakim Bonyo and Ms. Sarah Laura Mango (Siaya County) are participating on an Entrepreneurship and Marketing skills development training at the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) patancheru, Telengana, India.

India has had a devolved system of governance for over 50 years making India Kenya’s big brother as far as devolution is concerned. India is booming in knowledge-based sectors like information technology, medicine and other professional services - Sankarshan Acharya 2005. According to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj of the Government of India in the Devolution Report of 2015/16,  World over, communities are increasingly looking at innovative solutions around democratic decentralisation, participative local governance and citizen centered service delivery to solve their complex problems and achieve equitable and sustainable development. It is widely agreed that a new wave of decentralisation emerged in the nineties globally, characterised by (i) local democracy with focus on devolution of powers and resources to elected local bodies enjoying relative autonomy (ii) local governance based on participation of the marginalised and downtrodden, transparency and downward accountability (iii) local economic development focusing on pro-poor decentralised delivery of basic social services (iv) administrative reforms for efficient and cost effective civil services to support decentralisation.

The Government of India has been a great supporter to devolution in Kenya.  

The Council of Governors acknowledges the ruling by the High Court of Kenya in Petition No. 280 of 2017: Council of Governors Vs Lake Basin Development Authority & 6 others. In this matter the Council sought a declaration that Sections 3& 8 of the Lake Basin Development Authority, Sections 3 & 10 of the Kerio Valley Development Authority, Sections 3 & 8of the Tana & Athi Rivers Development Authority, Sections 3 & 8 of the Ewaso Ng'iro South Basin Development Authority, Sections 3 & 8 of the Coast Development Authority and Sections 3 & 8 of the Ewaso Ng'iro North Basin Development are all unconstitutional to the extent that they are inconsistent with Articles 6(2), 189 (1)(a) and (b),189 (2) and 259(11) of the Constitution. Despite the transfer of the functions by the Transition Authority through Legal Notice number 137 to 182 of 2013, these Authorities continue to carry out functions that are a preserve of the County Governments contrary to the provisions of the Fourth Schedule of the constitution. The functions presented in this matter include; integrated planning coordination and implementation of projects and programmes.

The Respondents raised a preliminary objection stating that the court had no jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that the petition was premature because the Petitioner had not exhausted the dispute resolution mechanisms provided for under the Constitution and the Intergovernmental Relations Act No.2 of 2012. That in the same spirit, County and National governments are supposed to take all reasonable measures to resolve disputes amicably and exhaust the mechanisms for alternative dispute resolution provided for under the Intergovernmental Relations Act before resorting to judicial proceedings as contemplated under article 189(3) and (4) of the Constitution.

The preliminary objection was however dismissed by the Court on the 27th day of November 2017. In its ruling, the court cited that the disputes contemplated by the intergovernmental Relations Act must be one between the two levels of government or between County governments.
In its findings the court noted that the dispute resolution mechanism established under the Intergovernmental Relations Act is not competent to resolve a question relating to the interpretation of the Constitution.
The court further noted that the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee does not have the mandate to resolve disputes relating to the constitutionality of a statute.

Excellency Governors led by the Chairman, Council of Governors, H.E Josphat Nanok attended the inaugural Ushanga initiative consultative meeting at Sankara Hotel on 27th November 2017. The meeting which was chaired by Cabinet Secretary, Tourism Najib Balala, resolved that Deputy Governors will be the team leaders in the counties with the CECs Tourism being the deputy team Leaders.
The Initiative will also have County coordinators, who will then be assisted by two Ushanga Women Representatives and Chief Officers from Finance, Gender and culture to ensure that the Initiative is successful in the counties. Also in attendance were Chairman of the Tourism and Wildlife Committee, H.E Samuel ole Tunai (Narok County), Governor Baringo County, H.E Stanley Kiptis, Deputy Governor Marsabit County, H.E Solomon Riwe and Deputy Governor Kajiado County, H.E Martin Moshisho. All Excellency Governors and Deputy Governors speaking during the meeting supported the initiative. They noted that they will work to ensure that the project is fully implemented. H.E Nanok noted that the Ushanga initiative is indeed a good project that would uplift the communities. H.E Samuel ole Tunai said: “I fully support the initiative. In fact it’s meant to have some earlier as especially in my county, the women who get to sell their beadwork to many tourists outside the Masai Mara and indeed if a market can be created to uplift their business why not.” Governor Baringo County, H.E Stanley Kiptis stated that Baringo County to host the CS Tourism, Najib Balala for the sensitization day scheduled between 13th-16th December, 2017. The Ushanga Kenya Initiative is aimed at job creation and transformation of the living standards of the women from pastoralist communities through commercialization of beadwork which has otherwise been a traditional activity with no significant economic benefits to the communities.
The initiative seeks to strengthen business and production capacity for women from pastoralists communities as well as improve their competitiveness of beads products in local, regional and international markets for sustainable livelihoods.
The initiative touches on seven counties namely, Baringo, Marsabit, Narok, Kajiado, Samburu, Turkana and West Pokot. An Ushanga Kenya Steering committee was formed to assist in the implementation of the initiative. The committee comprises of the Chairperson Mrs. Hellen Nkaissery, the Council of Governors, Principal Secretaries from Tourism, State Department of Culture and the Arts, State Department of Cooperatives, State Department of Gender Affairs and Principal Administrative Secretary from the Office of the Deputy President.
The role of the County Governments in this initiative is to recognize and mainstream Ushanga Initiative as county flagship Programme; Entrench framework from implementation, monitoring and budgetary framework; Mobilize and form women groups; Build capacity to enhance value and support infrastructure for the groups. In order to achieve this, several activities have been lined up which include; Awareness and ownership creation on the cultural and economic value of the bead and the Initiative, mobilization of pastoral women engaged in bead industry, capacity building of the pastoral women in the bead industry, infrastructure provision, product development and growth of the bead industry and marketing and sales of the beads industry. County visits have currently been scheduled in the 7 respective counties scheduled to take place between 4th December 2017 and 3rd February 2018.