The Council of Governors has started a new round of protests, alleging that the National Government is usurping the role of devolved units after declaring a deadlock over revenue sharing between county and national governments.
The governors lamented what they described as the growing disdain for the constitutional role of counties in a letter written by the Council's CEO, Mary Mwiti. The governors claimed that the national government was funding devolved functions directly through the ministries and departments in the counties and that members of parliament were initiating the projects, causing chaos within the devolved units.
Governors neglected to provide stipends to community health advocates last week, including Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at his Nairobi home in Karen.
County executives are reportedly shaken by the incident, leading them to suggest that counties receive 3 billion shillings in grants subject to conditions to pay community health promoters stipends.
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Governors have argued that health funding should be distributed according to the function's devolved nature.
The execution of the affordable housing program is one of the topics that will be covered at the meeting on Thursday.
The national government is only approaching the governors for the land on which these housing will be built, making them feel excluded from this project. The other agenda items are implementing a market development program and health-related matters, such as the distribution of Danida County government funds and the effects of the three ratified health acts on counties.
In the past, governors and the federal government have disagreed on several issues, including education, where the governors opposed the Ministry of Education's plans to have primary school principals oversee early childhood development and education centers (ECDEs).
Since the beginning of devolution, there has been a simmering conflict between the two tiers of government, with the national government regularly accused of not acknowledging the contributions of 47 devolved units in assigned roles.
