Kenya: Devolution 15-Year Assessment Uncovers Mixed Progress, County Challenges

• Kenya's devolution, initiated with the 2010 Constitution and county governments in 2013, has shifted service delivery closer to citizens but shows mixed results.
• Healthcare saw increased allocations, facilities, and a reduction in maternal and neonatal deaths, yet skilled births and antenatal visits declined.
• Counties manage 76% of Kenya's roads, but only 4% are paved, and they face significant shortfalls in allocated road maintenance funds.
• Pre-primary enrolment increased by 7.1%, with county investments in ECDE centers, though concerns persist about teacher recruitment and service quality.
• Key challenges include county reliance on national transfers, revenue generation struggles, pending bills, corruption, and issues with public participation.

The experience of devolution for citizens often depends heavily on their specific location and the particular service required, reflecting a landscape of both significant progress and persistent challenges.

Sixteen years after Kenya adopted its 2010 Constitution and thirteen years following the establishment of the first county governments in 2013, the nation's devolution framework has fundamentally reshaped public service delivery. Functions previously managed centrally from Nairobi, such as healthcare, local road networks, market operations, water services, agricultural support, trade facilitation, and early childhood education, are now administered closer to local communities. This significant transfer of responsibilities has been accompanied by the allocation of billions of shillings to the sub-national level.

However, a comprehensive assessment of this shift, drawing from the latest State of Devolution Address and various government oversight reports, reveals a nuanced picture. While there have been demonstrable improvements, particularly in health infrastructure, early childhood education initiatives, and localized development projects, the overall impact on service quality, governmental responsiveness, and citizen empowerment remains inconsistent. The effectiveness of devolution often varies significantly depending on a citizen's geographical location and the specific services they require.

Despite these gains, Kenyan counties continue to grapple with substantial operational and financial hurdles. Key challenges include a persistent reliance on fiscal transfers from the national government, difficulties in generating adequate local revenue, a backlog of pending bills, issues of corruption, insufficient public participation mechanisms, and ongoing complexities in the transfer of functions from national to county levels. These factors contribute to the uneven performance observed across the devolved units.

The healthcare sector stands out as a primary example of devolution's dual impact. County health allocations witnessed an 11.7 percent increase, rising from Sh137.57 billion to Sh154.58 billion. This financial boost facilitated a growth in registered public health facilities, from 6,649 to 6,740, and a 2.9 percent increase in hospital beds, reaching 49,324. Furthermore, intensive care unit beds expanded by 9 percent to 345, and the number of ambulances grew from 566 to 583.

These infrastructural enhancements have coincided with positive health outcomes in several areas. Maternal deaths decreased by 6.8 percent, from 2,851 to 2,656, while neonatal deaths saw a reduction from 6,909 to 5,777. Teenage pregnancies also declined by 19.7 percent. Residents like Joel Mugusi from Kisii County attest to these improvements, noting enhanced local healthcare services that reduce the need for travel to Nairobi for quality care, praising well-equipped referral hospitals.

Yet, the health landscape is not uniformly positive. The same reports indicate a 23 percent drop in skilled births, from 709,281 to 543,237, alongside a decline in fourth antenatal care visits. The Council of Governors attributed these specific downturns to shifts in maternity service delivery models and reduced accessibility at primary healthcare facilities. This illustrates a broader pattern where increased investment and infrastructure do not automatically translate into consistent access or universally improved outcomes.

Beyond healthcare, devolution has significantly impacted infrastructure and education. Counties now manage approximately 182,832 kilometers of roads, constituting 76 percent of Kenya's total road network. Despite this extensive responsibility, only about 4 percent of the county road network is paved. For the 2025/26 financial year, counties were allocated Sh31 billion for road construction and reported completing 22,797 kilometers of roads. However, they received only Sh3.6 billion out of a projected Sh10.52 billion from the Road Maintenance Levy Fund, highlighting a significant funding gap. Residents like Ruth Momanyi, also from Kisii, have experienced tangible benefits from improved roads, noting easier and faster movement that contributes to a booming local economy.

In education, the shift has been marked by a 7.1 percent increase in pre-primary enrolment, now exceeding 3.1 million learners. Counties have actively invested in Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centers and implemented school feeding programs. Nevertheless, persistent concerns remain regarding the recruitment of qualified teachers, the availability of adequate learning materials, and the overall quality of educational services provided in some areas.

The ongoing assessment of Kenya's devolution framework underscores several critical areas that present both operational hurdles and potential legal implications. The heavy financial reliance of counties on national government transfers, coupled with their struggles to generate sufficient own-source revenue, creates fiscal instability. This situation is often exacerbated by the accumulation of pending bills, which can lead to contractual disputes and challenges for suppliers and service providers engaged with county governments. Allegations of corruption further complicate public finance management and erode trust in local governance.

Moreover, inconsistencies in public participation processes and the incomplete transfer of functions from the national to county levels introduce regulatory ambiguities and operational inefficiencies. For legal professionals, these factors signal areas of potential risk related to public procurement, contractual engagements, and compliance with varying regulatory environments across different counties. The mixed performance across the devolved units means that legal strategies and risk assessments must account for the specific context and operational efficacy of individual county governments.

This article highlights the mixed operational and financial efficacy of Kenyan county governments, which is crucial for lawyers advising clients on public procurement, contractual engagements, or regulatory compliance at the sub-national level. It also signals areas of potential legal risk related to financial mismanagement, service delivery disputes, and varying regulatory environments across counties.

Source: Reporting based on recent government oversight documents.