Devolution at 15: Has power really moved closer to the people?

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 22 — Fifteen years after Kenya adopted the 2010 Constitution and 13 years after the first county governments took office, devolution has fundamentally changed the way government reaches citizens.

Services that were once largely administered from Nairobi are now managed closer to communities, with counties responsible for healthcare, local roads, markets, water services, agriculture, trade and early childhood education.

Billions of shillings have followed that shift.

But whether the transfer of government has translated into better services, greater responsiveness and more influence for ordinary Kenyans remains an open question.

The answer, according to the latest State of Devolution Address and government oversight reports, is mixed.

There have been measurable gains, particularly in health infrastructure, early childhood education and local development.

At the same time, counties remain heavily dependent on transfers from the national government, struggle to raise their own revenue and continue to face problems with pending bills, corruption, public participation and the transfer of functions.

For citizens, the experience of devolution can therefore depend heavily on where they live and which service they need.

What changed for citizens?

The most visible change has been the creation of a permanent layer of government at county level.

Since 2013, counties have taken responsibility for services that directly affect daily life.

In healthcare, for example, the latest State of Devolution Address shows that county health allocations increased by 11.7 per cent, from Sh137.57 billion to Sh154.58 billion.

The number of registered public health facilities rose from 6,649 to 6,740, while hospital beds increased by 2.9 per cent to 49,324.

Intensive care unit beds increased by 9 per cent to 345, while the number of ambulances rose from 566 to 583.

Some health outcomes have also improved.

Maternal deaths fell by 6.8 per cent, from 2,851 to 2,656, while neonatal deaths declined from 6,909 to 5,777. Teenage pregnancies also fell by 19.7 per cent.

For Joel Mugusi, a resident of Kisii County, the change is tangible.

“Healthcare services have improved in Kisii County courtesy of devolution. I no longer need to travel far away to Nairobi, for instance, to access affordable, quality services. Our referral hospital is well equipped and the services are good,” he said.

But the health picture is not uniformly positive.

The same report shows that skilled births fell by 23 per cent, from 709,281 to 543,237, while fourth antenatal care visits also declined.

The Council of Governors attributed the decline to changes in maternity service delivery models and reduced accessibility at primary healthcare facilities.

The figures illustrate the wider devolution story: increased investment and infrastructure do not necessarily guarantee consistent access or better outcomes.

Roads, schools and local services

The changes extend beyond healthcare.

Counties now control about 182,832 kilometres of roads, representing 76 per cent of Kenya’s total road network.

Yet only about 4 per cent of the county road network is paved.

During the 2025/26 financial year, counties were allocated Sh31 billion for road construction and reported building 22,797 kilometres of roads.

But they received only Sh3.6 billion out of a Sh10.52 billion allocation from the Road Maintenance Levy Fund.

For Ruth Momanyi, a Kisii resident, improved roads have made movement easier and faster.

“With the roads improvement we have seen in Kisii County, the county’s economy continues to boom because movement has been made easier and faster,” she said.

Education provides another measure of the shift.

Pre-primary enrolment increased by 7.1 per cent to more than 3.1 million learners, while counties have invested in Early Childhood Development Education centres and school feeding programmes.

Yet concerns remain over teacher recruitment, learning materials and the quality of services in some areas.

More money, but continued dependence

The expansion of county services has been accompanied by a significant flow of resources from the national government.

Since 2013, counties have received about Sh3.2 trillion through the equitable share.

The allocation has continued to increase, from Sh387 billion in 2024/25 to Sh415 billion in 2025/26 and Sh428 billion for 2026/27.

The Sh428 billion allocation was signed into law by President William Ruto in June 2026.

Ruto said the amount was above the constitutional minimum of 15 per cent and demonstrated the government’s commitment to strengthening devolution.

But increasing allocations have not translated into financially independent counties.

The Controller of Budget’s review for 2024/25 found that none of Kenya’s 47 counties met their own-source revenue targets.

Nairobi, for instance, targeted Sh20 billion but collected only Sh2.1 billion.

Kisumu targeted Sh2.8 billion and collected Sh259 million, while Machakos collected Sh287.4 million against a Sh2.7 billion target.

Nakuru collected Sh600.8 million against a Sh2.2 billion target, while Kilifi collected Sh231 million against a Sh1.5 billion target.

The figures highlight one of devolution’s central tensions: counties have acquired significant responsibilities, but their ability to finance those responsibilities independently remains limited.

When functions move without resources

Counties also continue to complain that some functions have been transferred without adequate resources.

Council of Governors Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi, the Wajir Governor, says counties are still struggling with the transfer of functions from the national government.

“Counties are still having challenges with the transfer of functions, yet there are no funds to match this transfer,” Abdullahi said.

President Ruto has acknowledged the same problem.

“Devolution cannot succeed when functions move, but resources remain behind,” he said.

The dispute goes to the heart of the 2010 constitutional settlement, which sought to break the concentration of power in Nairobi and bring decision-making and resources closer to citizens.

For residents, however, the constitutional division of responsibilities matters less than whether the service they need is available, accessible and functioning.

The question, therefore, is not simply how much money counties receive, but how effectively those resources are converted into services that citizens can see and use.

The cost of unfinished government

Counties’ financial pressures are also visible in their unpaid bills.

As of March 31, 2026, counties had accumulated Sh156.84 billion in pending bills, according to the Controller of Budget’s nine-month review of the 2025/26 financial year.

Of this amount, Sh116.5 billion was recurrent expenditure while Sh40.34 billion was development expenditure.

Nairobi accounted for Sh81.79 billion, more than half of the total.

Although the national figure was lower than the Sh173 billion recorded a year earlier, the outstanding bills remain a burden on county governments and their suppliers.

In Murang’a, 74 per cent of pending bills were more than three years old, while in Kiambu the figure stood at 67 per cent.

Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu has also raised concerns over payment transactions.

She flagged 15 counties for cancelling 15,008 approved payment transactions involving about Sh13 billion meant for suppliers.

The Auditor-General said the cancellations had not been adequately explained.

The effect can extend beyond county balance sheets, particularly where unpaid suppliers are contractors responsible for delivering roads, buildings or other services.

Has government become more accountable?

Moving power closer to citizens was also intended to make government more responsive and accountable.

That promise remains under pressure.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has investigated sitting and former governors over allegations including conflict of interest, money laundering and embezzlement.

EACC has also reported more than 280 county corruption cases under active investigation.

Procurement and recruitment have emerged as areas vulnerable to corruption.

The commission has raised concerns over alleged cases in which county officials direct tenders to companies linked to political figures or their associates, resulting in projects that are poorly implemented or never completed.

Public participation, another central pillar of devolution, has faced similar challenges.

Research cited in the devolution review has found that public participation can become little more than a formality, with citizens’ views failing to substantially influence government decisions.

But John Otieno, a Kisii resident, says public participation has given residents a channel to influence county priorities.

“Due to public participation, residents’ voices are essential as we are able to inform the county leadership on which priorities we should focus on. In Kisii, for example, such forums are taken seriously,” he said.

His experience points to the central tension in assessing whether power has truly moved closer to citizens.

It is one thing for government to be physically closer to citizens. It is another for citizens to have greater influence over what that government does.

Fifteen years on

There is now a permanent layer of government closer to citizens, counties control major service-delivery responsibilities and trillions of shillings have been channelled to local governments.

Health infrastructure has expanded, ECDE enrolment has grown and counties have assumed responsibility for roads, water, agriculture, trade and other services.

But proximity has not automatically produced responsiveness.

Counties remain heavily dependent on national transfers. None of the 47 counties met their own-source revenue targets in the 2024/25 review. Pending bills remain high, corruption investigations continue and disputes over functions and resources persist.

Public participation also remains an unresolved test of whether power has truly moved closer to the people.

After 15 years, the evidence points to a devolution system that has changed where government operates and expanded local service delivery, but has yet to fully resolve whether citizens have gained meaningful influence over how that government uses power and resources.

The question is no longer simply whether power left Nairobi.

It is whether the people gained a greater say in what happened after it arrived.