The Mediation Committee co-chaired by Hon. Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) and Sen. Kathuri Murungi (Meru) has reached an agreement to allocate more funds to counties.

The co-chairpersons of the Committee said Members unanimously agreed to allocate additional resources to counties, bringing the total revenue allocation to Kshs.400.1 billion, up from the earlier figure of Kshs.391.117 billion proposed by the National Assembly.

The legislators expressed their trust in devolution, calling it an equalizer that ensures all citizens across the country receive services and development projects regardless of their political affiliation. They emphasized that devolution allows counties to identify and address the unique challenges and needs of local communities.

According to Hon. Nyoro, this year’s allocation is the highest to counties since the inception of devolution many years ago.

“We all support devolution, and that is why, as leaders, we have unanimously decided to source more resources for the counties despite having a very tight resource envelope as a country,” he said.

The same sentiments were echoed by Sen. Kathuri, who applauded Senators for fighting to strengthen devolution by ensuring counties receive more resources to fund key functions that are now devolved. He, however, cautioned county bosses to ensure proper utilization of the funds so that grassroots citizens feel the impact of devolution through improved service delivery.

The two leaders committed to continue reviewing county allocation upwards in the subsequent financial years to address the resource gap in most counties. This came after concerns that many devolved functions continue to be underfunded making counties unable to operate as expected.