Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka has said the capacity of County assemblies must be improved if devolution is to succeed, “The County assemblies are the first point of oversight so we must build their capacity.” Speaking at the sixth annual Devolution Conference in Kirinyaga County, Lusaka said they should also find the mechanisms of having financial independence so that they are able to carry out their oversight role without relying on the executive and that as a Senate, they want to focus on performance audit, “As the Senate we want to concentrate more on performance audit and the Counties concentrate on operational audit so that it doesn’t appear there is duplication of what we are doing,” he said.
Since its inception, devolution has faced different challenges, but among the most aired is the release of funds to the Counties from the national government, and the Senate Speaker said the Senate will look to ensure the funds are availed quicker. “As a Senate, we will not tire in calling upon the National Treasury to ensure that funds for the Counties are timely disbursed. Continued inordinate delays translate into costly overdrafts and ill will from disillusioned service providers,” said Lusaka.
He also said the Counties should consider adopting innovative and optimum use of both human and financial resources, expanding on the source of revenue, automation of revenue collection and further seal revenue leakages.