Development
The intergovernmental Relations and Technical Committee (IGRTC)has today marked the official transfer and handing over of moveable assets that initially belonged to the defunct local authorities to the county governments.
Speaking in Uasin Gishu county on Tuesday when she handed over vehicles and ownership documents to the county government of Uasin Gishu, Devolution Principal Secretary, PS Teresia Mbaika said the handing over of the moveable assets was to ensure they were effectively utilised to support devolution.
The PS stated that over 8000 moveable assets spread across all the 47 counties were inspected and valued with a consolidated value of Sh3 billion during a valuation exercise of the moveable assets that included plant, motor vehicles and equipment that was completed in August 2023.
“The valuation of the moveable assets was completed and its report ready and handed over, however the valuation of fixed assets, Land and buildings is still work in progress and plans are underway to complete the pending works,” said the PS.
She added that the aim of the exercise was to ensure that the counties were handed the valuation reports, registers and movable assets.
“It is indeed a great milestone to achieve that which was long overdue since inception of devolution, this is in line with the bottom-Up Economic transformation agenda (BETA),” said Ms Mbaika.
The PS who handed over the assets to Uasin Gishu Governor Dr Jonathan Bii at the county transport and mechanical yard, further added that since the passage of the 2010 constitution, finalisation and transfer of assets relating to the defunct local authorities and those attached to the devolved function have remain pending for a long time.
“To fully finalise this exercise the tenth national and county government coordinating summit held in February 2023 directed the state department for devolution and IGRTC to coordinate the exercise to completion,” she added.
Additionally, she said the responsibility now turns to the individual county governments to ensure that the valued assets are updated in their asset registers and necessary steps to change ownership are done to safeguard and protect the public assets.
“We have set a multi-agency team consisting of the state department of Devolution, NTSA, National Treasury and IGRTC to support counties in the implementation of the next steps that will involve transfers re-registration, de-registration and disposal of obsolete assets. In line with the government digitization agenda where NTSA embarked on automation of all services relating to licensing and registration,” affirmed Ms Mbaika.
She called upon the county government to address some of the gaps identified in valuation reports to safeguard the assets recommending that they work with National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA)and other agencies to set up county roads safety and transport plans to ensure public assets are utilised and road safety improved.
The Kenya Kwanza government, in line with the BETA plan will ensure counties are fully resourced, noting that the handing over of the assets will strengthen devolution and service delivery to Kenyans.
Governor Bii commended the move by the National Government to ensure ownership of the vehicles and other moveable assets will promote development in the county.
“These matters of assets, especially automobiles, we had no ownership of but from this exercise we will own them as Uasin Gishu County. We are happy that we have unbundled this transfer and it is now going to take effect,” said the Governor.
The County boss, observed that the handing over of the assets today adds to the recent handing over of the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) to the county and requested the national government to ensure resources followed the functions, like KNLS to ensure it is well equipped with resources for the benefit of the county residents.
“Eldoret town has several institutions of higher learning such as Moi university, University of Eldoret, Eldoret National polytechnic and the Rift Valley Technical Training Institute, RVTTI as well as private university campuses, therefore the library will help the learners. We want to upgrade it to become a serious facility for research,” added Dr Bii.