Divert funds to projects aimed at combating social disparity
Day three of the Devolution Conference, 2025, will focus on "Sealing the Fault Lines: Strategies for Action in Financial Inclusivity." The event, themed "For the People; For Prosperity: Devolution as a Catalyst for Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice," aims to promote social and economic development and provide proximate services to communities.
The session will be led by Ms Mwiti, the Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Governors. The outcomes of the session will include consensus building on innovative and actionable strategies to ensure planning, resource allocation, and implementation focus on often left-out and forgotten populations. This is crucial to ensure no one is left out and that the benefits of devolution reach the vulnerable and marginalized.
One key approach is the use of poverty-weighted revenue-sharing formulas. Kenya’s current County Revenue Allocation formula incorporates poverty level (14% weighting), alongside population and geographic size, to allocate funds equitably, ensuring poorer counties receive adequate resources to address service delivery gaps.
Another strategy is enhancing financial inclusion and fiscal incidence analysis. Analyses like the World Bank’s “Making Devolution Work for Service Delivery” provide baseline data and insights into tax and transfer systems, which can guide the formulation of pro-poor fiscal policies within counties.
Strengthening county public financial management and accountability is also essential. Effective oversight, human resource management, and asset management at the county level ensure that devolved funds are used transparently and effectively to benefit marginalized groups.
Investing in pro-poor sectors and social protection programs is another key approach. Direct transfers, subsidies, and investments in livelihoods can help marginalized populations accumulate productive assets, which is essential for inclusive growth and poverty reduction.
Fostering participatory governance is another important strategy. Devolution provides a platform for marginalized communities to influence budget priorities and ensure that financing strategies address their specific needs, securing more responsive and inclusive development.
Addressing structural inequalities is also crucial. Pro-poor growth emphasizes reducing inequalities which improves resilience and promotes sustainable economic growth, implying that fiscal strategies should focus on increasing capacities among the disadvantaged and not just overall economic expansion.
Pro-poor financing aims to channel more funds to initiatives that address inequality and advance access to development and economic opportunities for all, regardless of background, gender, or social standing. A viable solution to ensure economic growth benefits everyone, especially the marginalized, is pro-poor financing.
Amartya Sen emphasizes that development is a process of expanding real freedoms and extinguishing unfreedoms like poverty, poor economic opportunities, and systematic social deprivation. In Kenya’s devolved system, pro-poor financing must combine equitable allocation formulas with strong county-level governance and targeted investments that empower marginalized populations to share in economic growth benefits.
However, counties still face challenges, one of which is inadequate allocation of resources to address inequalities, marginalization, and poverty. Pro-poor financing involves deliberate financial policies, programs, and investments designed to benefit vulnerable and poor populations and reduce poverty.
The goal is to dismantle systemic barriers to socio-economic inclusion. Devolution was instituted to promote social and economic development and provide proximate services to communities. The session on day three will examine the role of sub-national governments in promoting access to financial opportunities to address systemic economic inequalities and disparities.
- The session on day three will delve into strategies for ensuring pro-poor financing, focusing on tactical financial policies and investments aimed at benefiting vulnerable and marginalized populations, to dismantle systemic barriers to socio-economic inclusion.
- To secure equitable distribution of resources and promote social justice, the session will discuss the importance of enhancing fiscal incidence analysis, fostering participatory governance, and strengthening county public financial management and accountability, all with the goal of empowering marginalized communities in health, politics, business, and social justice matters.
