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THE PRESIDENCY
MINISTRY OF DEVOLUTION AND PLANNING
SPEECH BY ANNE WAIGURU, OGW CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY
OF DEVOLUTION AND PLANNING DURING THE SECOND ANNUAL
CONFERENCE ON DEVOLUTION ON THE 21ST OF APRIL 2015 AT TOM
MBOYA LABOR COLLEGE, KISUMU.
Your Excellency Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta CGH - President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Kenya,
Governors present,
Cabinet Secretaries present,
Senators present,
Honorable Members of Parliament present,
Members of County Assemblies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
May I take this opportunity to welcome you to the second annual devolution
conference whose overall theme is CELEBRATING DEVOLUTION. This theme
was deliberately chosen in recognition of the fact that life is all about the
journey, and that means that every step, as well as reaching our destination,
is part of our journey. Celebrating at a crucial anniversary is recognition of a
life well lived and well worked.
In her now widely syndicated TED talk series The danger of a single story,
she describes this even more aptly, The single story creates stereotypes, and
the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are
incomplete. They make one story become the only story. She further
contends that the danger of a single story is that it robs people of their
dignity, and flattens our reality.
The 2nd Devolution Conference therefore is an opportunity for us to tell other
stories about devolution that many out there are not hearing yet. It helps us
move away from creating a stereotype of the Devolution process in Kenya. It
helps us understand that there is no linear process in a political process such
2
to
provide
technical
support
to
the
Inter-governmental
the
Intergovernmental
Technical
Committee,
which
will
manage
in
these
governance
processes,
and
make
meaningful
contributions.
Fourthly, the Ministry is in the final stages of finalizing the Devolution Policy
to reflect the comments from the stakeholder engagement process. In
addition, we have also developed model laws for the counties awaiting
dissemination of the same this quarter.
Fifth, in cooperation with the County Governments, the Ministry is
implementing the Capacity Assessment and Rationalisation Programme. This
includes
comprehensive
skills
and
competencies
assessment
and
institutional review that will ensure that skills are matched to mandates. One
aspect of this programme was the biometric data capture exercise which
registered existing and newly recruited civil servants at both level of
government. The report of the same will soon be finalized and released.
Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In conclusion, may I reiterate my personal appreciation and that of my
Ministry to you, your Excellency the President and His Excellency the Deputy
President for their unwavering support for devolution. The successful
implementation of the devolved system of Government is indeed a collective
responsibility of all of us. As the Cabinet Secretary responsible for Devolution,
I have no doubt whatsoever that the devolved system of government is on
course. With the support of all stakeholders and in the spirit of cooperation
and consultation we shall succeed in addressing any teething problems that
were bound to emerge.