Council of Governors outgoing chairman and Meru Governor Peter Munya has said devolution has been successful despite significant challenges. While delivering a devolution report to the press together with fellow governors, Governor Munya pointed out the gains made in Agriculture and the Health sector, citing achievements made in the mechanization of Agriculture. “Initiatives of County governments to upscale farm technology and mechanize services has greatly reduced the burden of agricultural work,” said Munya, adding that the purchase of tractors, establishment of agriculture mechanization centres and distribution of greenhouses underscore some of the major achievements. He said challenges are still being faced when it comes to Agriculture, “There is poor coordination between County governments and national governments,” said Munya. He said national governments should be in charge of the overall vision of how we drive agriculture and research and long-term planning. “We’ve not seen good coordination on how we can drive a national vision,” he said.
He also noted an improvement in the health sector so far, with the number of doctors and nurses at the moment higher when compared to 2012. “In 2012 there were 874 doctors and 6,620 nurses in the entire country. Currently, there are 4,080 doctors working at County facilities and 557 doctors at national referral facilities,” said Munya. He pointed out that the number of nurses has also increased “Currently the number of nurses at County facilities stands at 24,373 while those at national referral facilities are 1,224.” He said though the current distribution of health care workers hasn’t attained the global standard, there is a noted improvement.