Kenya’s 47 governors will troop to Eldoret Town in Uasin-Gishu County this week to take stock of devolution, in an annual event now on its eighth edition.
Meeting under the theme ’10 Years of Devolution: The Present and The Future’, the event organisers have lined up high profile speakers including President William Ruto, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Raila Odinga, corporate executives and representatives from international community to address the delegates.
The conference will begin on a lighter note on Tuesday with games (football, athletics and tag of war). The Wednesday session addressed by President William Ruto will assess and propose measures that county governments can adopt to enhance transformative service delivery for improved citizen’s livelihood and a stronger business environment.
US Ambassador to Kenya (Meg Whitman), Safaricom Chief Executive Officer (Peter Ndegwa), Amref Health Chief Executive Officer (Githinji Gitahi), KCB Group Chief Executive Officer (Paul Russo) will also address the delegates on the second day of the conference.
On Thursday, the conference will examine the benefits of adopting technology and digitization and the potential impact on economic development. The session moderated by Henriette Geiger will consist of Governor Wisley Rotich (Chairperson, CoG ICT and Knowledge Management Committee), Cabinet Secretary ICT Eliud Owalo, Senator Allan Chesang (Chaiperson, Senate Standing Committee on ICT), Cynthia Kropac (Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Safaricom) David Omwoyo (CEO, Media Council Of Kenya) and Hamisi Williams (Assistant FAO representative to Kenya) as panelists.
The Thursday deliberations will also touch on food security, natural resource management, empowering youth for economic growth. Guest Speaker will be Raila Odinga, arriving at the venue between 12.30 pm -12.40 pm.
The objective of the Friday meeting will be the evaluation of effectiveness of good governance practices in promoting equitable and sustainable development in the devolved units.
Keynote speaker lined up for the last day is Anthony Ngororano (Resident representative, UNDP Kenya), with Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir (Mombasa Governor), Gathoni Wamuchomba (Chairperson, Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee), Moses Kajwang (Chairperson, Senate Public Accounts Committee), John Ogallo (Commissioner, EACC), Florence Kajuju (Chairperson, Commission on Administrative Justice), Sheila Monda (USAID Kenya) and Sheila Masinde (Transparency International) as the panelists.
In the 2023 division of revenue bill that President William Ruto assented to in April, the counties will receive Sh385 billion as an equitable revenue share up from the current Sh370 billion.
Nairobi got the lion’s share of Sh20 billion while Lamu was allocated the least national government funding of Sh3 billion.
Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) had recommended Sh407 billion as shareable revenue.
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