World Bank approves US$200 million to support Kenya’s devolution

The World Bank Group (WB) has approved funding facility of US$200million to cater for critical services like healthcare local road maintenance at the counties.

The loan facility will also go a long way in supporting both the counties and national government to improve results in public finance management systems, human resource management, planning and monitoring and evaluation systems, civic education and public participation as well as intergovernmental relations.

“Kenyans want devolution to work, and so do we at the World Bank. This program presents a great opportunity for both national and County Governments to work together to deliver services to the ordinary citizens, efficiently and effectively,” said Diarietou Gaye, World Bank Country Director for Kenya.

This program will however only seek to support counties that opt to participate in it.

The program will be implemented through Government’s own systems and policy framework to ensure sustainable impact and scale.

‘‘The Annual Capacity and Performance Assessment will provide a systematic review of capacity strengths and weaknesses, and will enable capacity providers at national and county levels to more directly target support to gaps that emerge, “said Christopher Finch, Senior Social Development Specialist and Task Team Leader.

The Kenya system of government is unique in that it brings a results orientation to capacity building by introducing performance-based transfers from national government to counties. The performance based grants, which are 80 percent of the credit, create incentives for counties to participate while providing additional resources for investment.

“These results will provide a foundation for counties to deliver devolved services, and leverage the US$2.5 billion that county governments receive annually via the Equitable Share,” said Jane Kiringai, Senior Economist and Co-Task Team Leader.

This program is fully aligned with the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) which focuses on operational zing new reforms created by the Constitution, and identifies devolution as one of the three top priorities. Indeed, Kenya’s devolution has major implications for poverty reduction, service delivery, economic growth and governance.