Javas Bigambo
The current state of devolution raises serious questions about fiscal discipline and accountability in county governments.
Governors and MCAs are public officials, but they are also Kenyans who must be held accountable for how public resources are spent.
A key concern is the role of the Controller of Budget. If the office approves expenditure and later raises concerns over how the money is spent, questions arise about where the gap in oversight lies.
This does not necessarily invalidate the concerns raised by the CoB, but it highlights the need for stronger mechanisms to ensure approvals are followed by effective monitoring.
Slightly over a decade after the advent of devolution, counties continue to face recurring problems, including pending bills, alleged misuse of public funds, diversion of approved resources and excessive recurrent expenditure.
Concerns over county wage bills exceeding recommended thresholds have also persisted since the first cycle of devolved governments.
The bigger question is whether oversight institutions are doing enough to address these problems structurally.
The Controller of Budget and Auditor General have opportunities to make recommendations to Parliament, including proposing amendments to laws and regulations that could strengthen public financial management.
It is not enough to identify irregularities after they occur.
Oversight should also provide practical solutions that can prevent the same problems from recurring.
Where laws are weak, institutions should recommend changes. Where procedures are being ignored, there should be consequences.
Technology could also help strengthen expenditure approval, tracking, monitoring and evaluation, while ensuring recommendations by oversight institutions are followed up.
Devolution, whose implementation started in 2013, was designed to take resources and decision-making closer to the people.
But this can only work if counties have strong financial controls and officials are held accountable.
The challenge now is to move from simply identifying failures to building systems that prevent them.
The governance expert spoke to the Star
