Murkomen Calls for good Inter-governmental relations

By George Owiti,

Elgeyo Marakwet Senetor, Kipchumba Murkomen, has urged the Council of Governors to submit to accountability procedures by the senate, which had a constitutional mandate to oversee and protect the counties. 

Kipchumba Murkomen addresses the press at the conference

Murkomen says it is the senate’s constitutional mandate to lobby for resources for the counties and therefore had a responsibility to ensure that the governors accounted for their county government expenditures. 

The senator, who is the Chair of the Devolution Committee in the Senate, was speaking at a conference on devolution organized by the Devolution Forum, a grouping of stakeholders working on devolution.  

The forum was organized to take stalk of the implementation of the system of devolved government, one year since its roll –out and was attended by more than 200 delegates drawn from all the 47 counties and key CSOs and development partners involved in devolution implementation. 

Murkomen argued there was corruption at the county government and that it was important for the Senate to act with speed to stop any mismanage of resources at that tier of government. 

He said corruption was a threat to devolution adding that there was no basis for the ongoing supremacy battles between the senators and governors. 

Murkomen called for the nurturing of good inter- governmental relations between the national and county governments for devolution to be effectively achieved.

According to the senator, corrupt leaders had the tendencies of branding their colleagues who raised questions on accountability as the 'enemies of devolution.

"Most of the leaders who are corrupt do not want to be questioned on their financial expenditures, they brand individuals working towards good course as 'anti-revolutionists' and killers of the constitution," said  Murkomen. 

He said the competition and confrontation between the national and county governments would hurt devolution adding that instead, the two levels should promote of cooperation. 

The conference brought together CSOs and other players to champion for the protection of devolved governance from undue interference and to come up with a common position and recommendations on the devolution process. 

Representatives from keys CSO at the conference said it was important for the civil society sector to be prefects of the devolution implementation process; to monitor the implementation process, offer technical capacity where needed and mediate between the two levels of government and educate citizens on matters of devolved governance.

They said there was need for a concerted effort from the civil society (non-governmental organizations, private sector, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, professional organizations and the media) in playing the oversight role in the implementation process of devolved governance.