The Government of Kenya developed a National Capacity Building Framework – NCBF, in 2013 to guide the implementation of its capacity building support for county governments. The program is a key part of the government’s Kenya Devolution Support Program – KDSP- supported by the World Bank. The NCBF – MTI spans PFM, Planning and M & E, Human Resource Management, Devolution, and Inter-Governmental Relations and Public Participation.
The Ministry of Devolution and ASAL – MODA, the state department of devolution subsequently commissioned Prestige Management Solutions Limited to carry out the Annual Capacity and Performance Assessment (ACPA) in forty-seven counties in Kenya. The ACPA aims to achieve three complementary roles, namely:
- The Minimum Access Conditions (MACs)
- Minimum Performance Conditions (MPCs)
- Performance Measures (PMs)
In preparation for the assessment process, MODA carried out an induction and sensitization training to the consulting team to help them internalize the objectives of the ACPA, size of capacity and performance grants, County Government’s eligibility criteria, ACPA tool, and the ACPA assessment criteria.
This report highlights the findings of the assessment carried out by Prestige Management Solutions on the Annual Capacity Performance Assessment (ACPA) under the Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP). KDSP is a Programme jointly funded by the National Government and World Bank. The overall KDSP objective is to strengthen the capacity of core national and county institutions to improve delivery of devolved functions at the County level.
The Constitution of Kenya 2010 creates a new governance structure, through rebalancing accountabilities, increasing the responsiveness, inclusiveness, and efficiency of government service delivery. It provides for multiple reforms including a strengthened legislature, judiciary, decentralization, new oversight bodies, and increased transparency and accountability to citizens.
The county governments as new institutions have within four years of existence brought in significant progress in delivering devolved services mainly consisting of health, agriculture, urban services, county roads, county planning and development, management of village polytechnics, and county public works and services.
In preparation for capacity needs of a devolved structure, the national government in consultation with the County Governments created the National Capacity Building Framework (NCBF) in 2013. In respect of Article 189 of the Constitution, Multiple new laws, systems, and policies were rolled out; induction training for large numbers of new county staff from different levels of County Government was initiated focused on the new counties. The Medium Term Intervention (MTI) which provides a set of results and outputs against capacity building activities at both levels of government, and across multiple government departments and partners can be measured were instituted. These measures provide the basis for a more coherent, well-resourced and devolution capacity support, as well as by other actors. The NCBF spans PFM, Annual Capacity and Assessment Report, Planning and M&E, Human Resource Management, Devolution, and Inter- Governmental Relations and Public Participation.