More than Sh4 trillion has flowed to counties since 2013, but devolution is now staring at a crisis of credibility amidst unchecked spending. Since its historic and highly celebrated inception in 2013, devolution was widely hailed as the ultimate, constitutional silver bullet for Kenya's deeply entrenched historical inequalities. The Collapse of Institutional OversightThe fundamental premise of devolution was elegant in its simplicity: bring vital resources and critical decision-making power directly to the people. It was absolutely never meant to be a heavily funded feeding trough for a new, highly localized class of political elites. A Warning to the NationThe undeniable truth is that Kenya simply cannot afford to let the grand experiment of devolution fail.

Source: Daily Nation February 24, 2026 05:50 UTC