1. MINISTRY OF DEVOLUTION AND PLANNING
ROLE OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IN CAPACITY BUILDING TO ENHANCE ACCOUNTABILITY IN SERVICE DELIVERY
Presentation by
Micah Pkopus Powon, CBS
Principal Secretary
State Department of Devolution
15th December 2017

2. Background
The success of devolution can only be measured by the effectiveness of service delivery to our citizens
effective service delivery emerges from institutional relationship in which the actors are accountable to each other
At its center, the concept of accountability is the checking and balancing of potential abuse of power by public officials
accountability requires that:
entities are given known objectives (such as the big four)
there is an agreed, impartial and reliable way of assessing perfromance
achievement and failure both respective action
The political notion of accountability in this case corresponds to the economists’ concept of incentives.

3. Background
The notion of oversight creates sharp divisions in the devolution sphere:
with those who would benefit from devolution largely in support
those who are likely to lose out politically or economically make every effort to undermine the process.
However, oversight is an imperative if we are to continuously improve on the level of service delivery to our citizens.
The desire for improved quality of life, prosperity of the citizen and the overall development of our nation as embodied in Article 174 of our Constitution should be the single greatest incentive to subject our institutions to oversight.
The oversight function of national government ministries therefore should simply be the review of performance devolved function to inform policy and strategic action to imporve service delivery.
It is not an attempt to undermine the constitutional integrity of county governments

4. The Capacity Building Role
The National Government responsibility for capacity building is given pursuant to Article 190 and the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution
This mandate is further elaborated under Section 121 of the County Governments Act which places responsibility on the ministry or government department responsible for matters relating to intergovernmental relations to provide support to county governments to enable them to perform their functions.

5. The National Capacity Building Framework
outlines the strategy for implementation modalities of this core function through
identification of focus areas;
priority actions;
participating actors; and
resources to implement Capacity building.
Its rationale is to
provide a mechanism for facilitating and coordinating capacity building initiatives;
Leverage and build on the foundation of on-going appropriate capacity building initiatives;
Provide a structure for a package of support based on government wide existing policies and local priorities;
Provide basis for monitoring and evaluating capacity development.

6. Implementation Framework
Implementation of the NCBF is premised along the following four pillars targeting the individual, organization and environment:
Training and Induction
Technical Assistance to Counties
Inter-governmental sectoral forums
Civic Education and Public Awareness
Institutional Support and Strengthening

7. Objectives and Priority Areas
Following the implementation of The NCBF in the first two years,
The State Department of Devolution commissioned a Medium Term Intervention (MTI)study
The MTI defined the following are the five key result areas as priority capacity need areas:
Public finance management;
planning, monitoring and evaluation;
human resources and performance management;
devolution and inter-governmental relations; and
civic engagement and public participation

8. Conceptual Framework of the NCBF:

9. Approaches to Capacity Building
Training and inductions
Development of guidelines (Standards and Norms)
Technical Assistance – Demand driven
Development of systems, processes and procedures
Knowledge Sharing- (Peer to peer)
Equipment (Tooling and re-tooling)

10. KENYA DEVOLUTION SUPPORT PROGRAMME (KDSP)
One of the programs through which the NCBF is currently being operationalized is the KDSP
a) Objective:
strengthen national & county institutions to improve devolved service delivery
b) $200 m World Bank credit to supplement existing NCBF resources
$160 m to counties through new Capacity & Performance Grants
$40 m to national government to strengthen devolution support (guidelines, training, in-county TA)
c) Covers four years – FY16/17 to FY19/20
d) Complements existing devolution capacity building
e) Designed in consultation with CoG

11. 80% of Funds will go to Counties
Kenya Devolution Support Program
$200 million
$40m for National government results
such as completion of:
Guidelines, systems
Training modules
In-county TA
Audits
OBJECTIVE: Strengthened institutions for devolved service delivery
$160m for County government results
- via Capacity & Performance Grants transferred to counties
- for capacity building and investments
Public Financial Management
Planning and M&E
Human resources management
Civic education and public participation

12. Uses existing government systems
KDSP Key Features
Results-based. Disbursements based on results at county & national levels. It is therefore an incentive based capacity building process.
Uses existing government systems
Funds flow from Treasury to county revenue funds
Independent firm assesses perfromance
Supports National Capacity Building Framework

13. Recommendations
Establish a system by which counties may request for specific capacity building support
Establish a standard performance assessments framework to inform both levels of government of emerging capacity building needs
Strengthen knowledge sharing platforms including such forms as this one, the maarifa center, the devolution conference etc.

14. Recommendations
Strengthen popular participation in governance with free flow of information between public institutions and the public
establish a standard framework for development planning that integrates citizen priorities, eliminates deficit budgeting, strengthens financial discipline and expands the fiscal space at both the national and county levels
Facilitate and strengthen a sector wide approach to development planning with emphasis on joint programs where the two levels of government have concurrent mandate to ensure joint allocation of resources

15. Thank you for you attention