Our Background
The State Department for Devolution (SDD) draws its mandate from Articles 6, 10 and Chapter 11 of the Constitution of Kenya; the Executive Order No. 1 of June 2018 (Revised) and the various Acts under which devolution is implemented including; Intergovernmental Relations Act, 2012; County Governments Act, 2012; Urban Areas and Cities Act 2011 and Public Finance Management Act 2012. The Executive Order 1 of June 2018 (Revised) assigned the State Department the following functions:
- Devolution Policy;
- Intergovernmental Relations;
- Capacity Building and Technical Assistance to County Governments;
- Management, Monitoring and Evaluation for Devolution Affairs;
- Special Programmes; and
- Food Relief Management and Humanitarian Emergency Response.
The National Government established a Ministry responsible for Devolution matters in order to manage the process of implementation of the devolved system of government. The National Government thereafter provided administrative support through secondment of critical staff to assist in setting up county structures before Counties acquired capacities to do so.
Through the State Department for Devolution, the Government has been facilitating implementation of the devolved system of governance by developing the requisite policies, laws, guidelines and regulations in collaboration with the relevant institutions. Considerable progress has been registered in the implementation of the devolved system of government since 2013.
