Devolution was meant to be the great equalizer in Kenyan politics, bringing resources and decision-making power closer to the people. However, under the current administration and its “broad-based” partners, the dream of devolution is being systematically undermined. Edwin Sifuna has raised the alarm over the government’s failure to release funds to the counties, leading to a crisis in service delivery across the nation.
Many county governments are unable to pay salaries or fund essential projects because the National Treasury has withheld billions of shillings. This financial strangulation is a direct violation of the constitutional principles that the opposition promised to protect when they entered into the cooperation agreement.
The Secretary General pointed out that the ten-point agenda specifically called for the strengthening of devolution and the timely release of funds. Instead, the central government has used the control of the purse strings as a political weapon to keep governors in line. This tactic has paralyzed local governments and left many citizens without access to basic services.
Sifuna’s critique suggests that the “broad-based” government has actually accelerated the centralization of power rather than decentralizing it. The involvement of opposition leaders in the national government has seemingly not translated into better outcomes for the counties they represent, leading to a growing sense of frustration among local leaders.
The future of devolution is now at a crossroads. If the government continues to starve the counties of resources, the entire structure of the 2010 constitution could be at risk. Sifuna warned that the opposition will not sit idly by while the gains of the past decade are erased. The demand for the immediate release of all pending funds to the counties is non-negotiable.
As the March 2026 deadline approaches, the status of devolution will be a key metric by which the success of the cooperation is measured. For the people in the rural areas, the “broad-based” government is not judged by the appointments in Nairobi but by the availability of medicine in local clinics and the quality of roads in their villages.