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| County Governments Act, 2012 | |
|---|---|
| Title | County Governments Act, 2012 |
| Enacted by | Parliament of Kenya |
| Long title | An Act of Parliament of Kenya to provide for the structure and functions of county governments established by the Constitution of Kenya |
| Date enacted | 2012 |
| Status | in force |
County Governments Act, 2012
The County Governments Act, 2012 is Kenyan legislation operationalizing devolved units created by the Constitution of Kenya (2010), delineating institutional arrangements for Nairobi City County, Mombasa County, Kisumu County, Nakuru County and other counties. It situates county institutions alongside national institutions such as the Supreme Court of Kenya, Senate of Kenya, National Assembly of Kenya, Cabinet of Kenya and the Office of the Attorney General of Kenya. The Act interacts with statutes like the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 and the Elections Act, 2011 and has been subject to judicial interpretation by courts including the High Court of Kenya and the Court of Appeal of Kenya.
The Act followed the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya (2010) which followed the Wako Commission era reforms and the post-2007 Kenyan crisis constitutional review that involved bodies such as the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. Drafting drew on comparative models from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Nigeria, India and institutional advice from the United Nations Development Programme and the African Union commission. Parliamentary processes involved committees of the Parliament of Kenya and debates in the Senate of Kenya and National Assembly of Kenya, with submissions from stakeholders including the Kenya Law Reform Commission and the Council of Governors.
The Act prescribes county structures—executive offices, county assemblies, county public service boards, county senates’ liaison mechanisms—and aligns with principles from the Constitution of Kenya such as separation of powers recognized by the Judicial Service Commission and oversight by the Inspector General of the National Police Service. It defines offices like the county governor and deputy, county executive committee members, county secretaries and county advocates. The Act sets norms on enactment of county legislation, administration of county property, and public participation referencing precedents from the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council and the Commission on Revenue Allocation.
The Act delineates responsibilities transferred from national entities like the Ministry of Health (Kenya), Ministry of Education (Kenya), Ministry of Transport (Kenya), and the Ministry of Agriculture (Kenya) to county equivalents, impacting services in counties such as Kiambu County, Baringo County, Turkana County and Garissa County. Functions encompass county planning, licensing, county roads, health services, and local markets, intersecting with national frameworks like the Public Procurement and Disposal Act and the National Land Commission. It also addresses conflict resolution mechanisms involving institutions such as the National Cohesion and Integration Commission and county-level bodies.
The Act frames the roles of the county governor, deputy governor and the county executive committee as distinct from the county assembly led by the speaker, interacting with national bodies including the Electoral Commission of Kenya predecessors and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. It sets procedures for nomination, vetting and removal influenced by practices in the Senate of Kenya and the National Assembly of Kenya, and clarifies the legislative process for county laws, oversight powers of assembly committees, and public participation modeled after procedures used by the Parliament of Kenya and provincial institutions.
Financial provisions coordinate with the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, the Commission on Revenue Allocation determinations and reports from the Controller of Budget. The Act prescribes county budgeting, expenditure controls, asset management and procurement compliance with the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005 frameworks, and governs county access to conditional and unconditional grants from the National Treasury of Kenya and the Consolidated Fund of Kenya. Disputes involving revenue sharing invoke mechanisms related to the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Intergovernmental Budget and Economic Council.
The Act establishes fora and dispute-resolution channels to manage relations between county governments and national organs such as the Attorney General of Kenya, the Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning, the Council of Governors and the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee. It references cooperative arrangements, joint projects and shared regulatory functions aligned with international examples like the African Peer Review Mechanism and advisory input from the World Bank. The Act also structures coordination in disaster response with agencies such as the National Disaster Management Unit and policing coordination involving the National Police Service.
Implementation involved county-level adoption in counties such as Kiambu County, Laikipia County, Embu County and Tharaka-Nithi County and oversight by bodies including the Kenya School of Government and the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis. Amendments and interpretive rulings have arisen from litigation in the Supreme Court of Kenya, High Court of Kenya and administrative tribunals, with cases engaging actors like the Council of Governors and the Attorney General of Kenya. Judicial review has clarified aspects of devolution, separation of powers and fiscal autonomy drawing jurisprudence from comparative decisions in jurisdictions such as South Africa and India.
Category:Kenya legislation