On Tuesday 22^nd November 2022 KEPSA leadership held a consultative meeting with the Council of Governors (COG) Management at the COG offices in Nairobi.

The KEPSA delegation was led by the CEO Carole Kariuki, Brenda Mbathi – KEPSA trustee, Patrick Obath – Chair, KEPSA Foundation, Wambui Mbarire - Vice Chairperson, Devolution and Planning Sector Board, Agatha Juma - Head of PPD, KEPSA and Benjamin Musungu - PPD Officer, Devolution.

The Council of Governors team was led by H.E. Anne Waiguru - Chairperson COG and H.E.Muthomi Njuki – Chairperson, COG Health Committee, Ms. Mary Mwiti – CEO, COG and Mr. Haron Ng’eno-Technical Officer, COG.

Ms. Carole Kariuki lauded the Council of Governors for their continued engagement and support to the private sector. Specifically, she noted that the meeting was a follow-up of the past KEPSA - COG engagements which have been premised on supporting the transformation of counties as the frontiers of economic development and progress.

As a result of the engagements, she noted the following recurring private sector concerns were identified as major pain points:

• Duplicity and multiplicity of taxes, charges, fees, and levies.
• Lack of well-coordinated Disaster and Risk Management Actions especially the cyclical drought response plans.
• Disproportionate representation of the private sector in county planning forums: There’s inadequate private sector agency in county budgeting and economic forums, urban and municipal boards among others.
• Regulatory uncertainties; for instance, only 14 counties have legislation on animal welfare.
• Delayed payment of pending bills owed to businesses and suppliers: An estimated Ksh. 34.5 billion is still owed in arrears to suppliers and businesses across the Counties.
• Stifling bureaucracy and business red-tapes: This is attributed to weak oversight systems on county fiscal prudence and compliance systems especially in securing county approvals.
• Lack of private sector incentives to attract DDI and FDI needed to spur growth.
• Inadequate infrastructure and incentive framework to support PPPs.

In a bid to address the prevailing policy and programmatic challenges affecting private sector investments in counties, she noted that KEPSA and COG have co-created a program, aptly dubbed the ‘Private Sector Devolution Support Program (PSDSP)’. PSDSP, she stated, is focused on four primary areas namely: Implementation of the County Competitiveness Index, the establishment of KEPSA-COG PPD mechanisms, Operationalization of KEPSA Economic Blocs representation and promotion of climate-proofed development through initiatives such as the Resilience Bond, Tree Planting and Drought Response Plan et al.

In his remarks, Eng. Patrick Obath reiterated the need for COG and KEPSA to establish PPD mechanisms with COG technical committees and CECs to achieve qualitative and meaningful results. He also noted the need for the Council of Governors to implement omnibus legislations that ensure policy harmonization and coherence across counties.

Ms. Brenda Mbathi further stated the urgency and importance of establishing sector-based engagements as critical links for investments and partnerships.

On her part, Ms. Wambui Mbarire noted the need for the County Governments to reorient their focus on retail, wholesale trade, and more fundamentally the informal sector whose economic potential remains underutilized. She further spoke on the need to implement a Food mapping Initiative to ensure the redistribution of surplus food to food-deficit areas, especially in the wake of the ravaging drought.

Ms. Agatha Juma noted that KEPSA is implementing the Kenya Youth Employment and Acceleration Program (KYEEAP) which provides critical pathways for counties to generate wealth and create jobs for the youth.

H.E. Anne Waiguru in her rejoinder appreciated the centrality of the private sector in the growth of devolution. She affirmed the willingness of COG to engage KEPSA in a mutually beneficial partnership that will involve stratification of PPDs mechanisms and partnership in convening Private Sector - COG Roundtables as precursors to the Devolution Conferences.

She further noted the critical areas of partnership under the PSDSP project and committed to Fastrack COG-KEPSA institutional partnership framework to expeditiously implement the policy and programmatic interventions stated therein.

H.E. Muthomi Njuki spoke emphatically on the need for COG to leverage on KEPSA’s investment promotion capacities to attract and sustain investments across Counties. He further noted the need for KEPSA to address the challenge of high hospital fees charged by private hospitals to NHIF card holders, which is affecting the efficacy of Universal Health Care.

Ms. Mary Mwiti spoke on the urgency for an MoU between KEPSA and COG to operationalize the agreed action areas. She further noted that the spirit and purpose of the partnership are aligned and resonate well with the theme of the 2023 Devolution Conference which is “Positioning Counties as Economic Hubs for Investments’’.

Moving forward, the meeting agreed on the following 4 areas of action:

1. THAT both institutions will support the roll-out of the County Competitiveness Index (CCI) to be launched as a precursor to the devolution conference.
2. THAT both institutions will jointly establish and operationalize PPD mechanisms.
3. THAT both institutions will co-create programs on climate-proofed development and campaigns to sensitize the masses.
4. THAT both institutions will co-design project interventions to create jobs for the youth whilst leveraging on existing projects such as KEPSA’s KYEEAP.