Counties must strengthen fiscal guardrails or risk betraying the spirit of devolution

Last week in the Senate, Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika faced a sobering interrogation on the state of her county’s financial governance. What emerged was not merely a local administrative lapse but a disturbing picture of systemic fragility within county governments across Kenya. The conversation, led by the Senate Public Accounts Committee, revealed that Nakuru County currently lacks a County Public Service Board, an Audit Committee, a Chief Officer of Finance, a qualified Head of Accounting Services, and even an approved Internal Audit Charter. In one sentence, the Chair summarised the problem: “Your financial management is in shambles.”

This is not just Nakuru’s problem. It is a national governance crisis that raises fundamental questions about devolution, accountability, and the stewardship of public resources.

Financial management in government is not about individuals; it is about systems and institutions. The Constitution and the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act deliberately designed multiple checks and balances to prevent misuse of funds. These include independent audit committees, professional accounting officers, service boards to ensure merit-based recruitment, and internal auditors with approved charters to guide their work.

Nakuru, Kenya’s fourth largest county and a key economic hub, has somehow been operating without most of these guardrails. That means billions of shillings are being collected, budgeted, and spent in a vacuum of oversight. Without an audit committee, the internal auditor’s work has no approval framework. Without a Chief Officer of Finance, responsibility for key decisions is blurred. Without a Public Service Board, recruitment risks capture by political patronage rather than merit. And without a qualified head of accounting services certified by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya, the county’s books lack professional integrity.

To borrow the Senate Chair’s analogy, this is nothing short of a recipe for failure.

Why does this matter? Because where systems are weak, corruption thrives. A county without these checks is like a bank without auditors, or a football team without referees. Money flows, but no one is sure where it goes.

Already, Kenyans are fatigued by stories of misappropriation in county governments: Ghost projects, inflated tenders, and irregular employment. The situation in Nakuru suggests that beyond individual scandals lies an institutional vacuum. Without the proper structures, even a well-meaning governor will preside over leakage, inefficiency, and fiscal indiscipline. With corrupt leadership, the situation becomes catastrophic.

In such an environment, service delivery inevitably suffers. Roads remain undone, hospitals lack drugs, bursaries are delayed, and workers face salary arrears all while county officials enjoy lavish perks. Citizens pay the price, while accountability evaporates.

Governor Kihika explained that some of the lapses were due to unfortunate timing: The retirement of a finance director, the expiry of a service board’s term, and delays in recruitment. But this explanation underscores another governance gap, the lack of succession planning in counties.

Institutions should never collapse because one officer retires or a board’s term ends. Robust systems anticipate transitions and prepare replacements. That is why the Constitution insists on institutional rather than personal rule. A county government that cannot plan for leadership succession is, in effect, gambling with billions of shillings in public funds.

The Senate deserves credit for putting this issue squarely on the table. But it must go beyond highlighting the problem to enforcing solutions. Counties must not only establish the mandatory financial structures but also demonstrate their functionality. Audit committees should be fully operational, internal audit charters approved, and accounting officers held to professional standards.

One practical step is the proposal floated during the hearing: Incorporating these parameters into the ranking of counties. If the Senate were to publish annual scorecards on the state of county financial governance, citizens would be empowered to demand reforms from their leaders. Such transparency would strengthen devolution rather than weaken it.

Nakuru is not an outlier; it is a mirror. Many counties face similar governance gaps but hide behind technicalities and political rhetoric. If the fourth largest county in Kenya is missing nearly every key financial institution, what is happening in smaller, poorer counties with less scrutiny?

The truth is that unless counties urgently strengthen their internal financial systems, devolution will fail its core promise: To bring government closer to the people in a transparent, accountable, and equitable manner. Instead, devolution risks degenerating into decentralised looting, where money is stolen not just in Nairobi but in 47 capitals across the country.

Kihika was right about one thing: The lapses are urgent and must be addressed immediately. But urgency must be matched by seriousness. Recruitment should not be treated as a routine box-ticking exercise but as a constitutional responsibility to safeguard public resources.

Kenyans should demand nothing less than professional, qualified, and independent oversight bodies in every county. Anything short of that is an invitation to chaos and theft.

The Senate hearing painted a stark picture: Without critical institutions, Nakuru’s financial management is already compromised. But the bigger lesson is national: Counties across Kenya must urgently strengthen their fiscal guardrails or risk betraying the spirit of devolution.

Devolution was not meant to create 47 small kingdoms of impunity. It was meant to democratise development, ensure equitable resource distribution, and bring decision-making closer to citizens. That vision can only be realised if counties build strong, independent, and professional institutions to manage public funds.

Otherwise, the dream of devolution will rot in the same way as the books of counties that fail to balance them.