A delegation from the Kingdom of Eswatini has this week spent time benchmarking on devolution in Murang’a County.
The delegation, which wants to understand structures and functioning of devolved governments, hailed devolving of key functions where residents at grassroots can easily access.
Led by the Eswatini’s minister of Tinkhundha administration and development S’Khumbuzo Dlamini the delegation lauded the Huduma centre saying the operations of the facility has helped people to access services from one point.
The Kingdom of Eswatini, Dlamini said is in process of devolving key services, hence their visit in Kenya would help them get enlightenment on implementation of decentralization.
“We are delighted on how devolution is working here in Kenya and it was ideal for us to visit and benchmark as we have factored devolution in our constitution,” said Apollo Maphalala, Eswatini’s minister for housing and urban development.
He continued, “We are working to ensure proper structures to devolve delivery services in our country and we appreciate the leadership of Murang’a for taking us through areas it has implemented various projects.”
Eswatini’s Principal Secretary for local government Nonhlanhla Tsabedze said Kenya initially had progressed in local governments and now has county administrations saying their visit will help them in formulating laws and policies to actualize devolution in their Kingdom.
“Since our arrival we have been exposed to a number of ministries that shared information with us and now we are privy to structures needed to devolve services in our country,” she added.
Secretary of Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development Hiram Kahiru said they settled in Murang’a considering some of the development advancements the county has achieved.
“Murang’a County was selected by the national government to host the delegation due to its successful execution of various community projects,” noted Kahiru.
He said the delegation visiting Murang’a has gathered and learnt a lot in terms of devolution, saying the visitors have witnessed various projects implemented by the devolved unit.
Muranga Governor Irungu Kang’ata, while receiving the team in his office, lauded the national government for choosing Murang’a for benchmarking some of the projects his administration has so far achieved.
The benchmarking, Kang’ata said, came when his administration is working closely to implement projects meant to socially and economically benefit the locals.
“In the benchmarking, the delegation has visited some of our projects like the county milk factory, rehabilitated ECDE centres, smart city programmes, Kenneth Matiba hospital, and was also taken them through automation of government services,” he stated.
By Bernard Munyao and Anita Omwenga
