The National and County Governments Coordinating Summit has adopted a series of far-reaching resolutions aimed at accelerating devolution, strengthening intergovernmental coordination, and resolving long-standing administrative bottlenecks.
The decisions were issued on December 10, 2025, in a communiqué released after the 12th Ordinary Session of the Summit held at State House, Nairobi.
The Summit, chaired by President William Ruto and attended by the National Government Executive and the Council of Governors (CoG), reviewed progress made since the previous session held on December 16, 2024.
Officials said the meeting focused on advancing cooperation between the two levels of government to enhance service delivery under Kenya’s devolved governance structure.
According to the communiqué, the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) was directed to “accelerate the finalization of unbundling and delineation of contested functions for transfer to the county governments.”
The Commission on Revenue Allocation and the National Treasury will verify financial resources tied to these functions to guide resource allocation for the 2026/27 financial year.
On public assets, the Summit resolved that counties will work jointly with IGRTC and other state agencies to expedite the acquisition of legal ownership of all transferred fixed and movable assets.
In an effort to strengthen sectoral coordination, the communiqué announced amendments to the Intergovernmental Relations Sector Forums Regulations to allow co-chairing by both levels of government.
All pending sector forums must be operationalised by the end of January 2026.
The Summit also called for political intervention to revive stalled legislation.
“The Prime Cabinet Secretary shall coordinate with the speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate to intervene to ensure that the stalled Intergovernmental Relations (Amendment) Bill, 2024, currently before the National Assembly, is concluded,” the document stated.
Further, the State Department for Devolution, CoG, IGRTC and the Office of the Attorney-General were tasked with developing regulations to support preparation of Summit reports to Parliament and county assemblies, as required by law.
On social programmes, IGRTC has 14 days to finalise pending intergovernmental participatory agreements on issuance of bursaries by counties.
Meanwhile, the National Treasury is expected to fast-track pending disbursements for County Aggregation and Industrial Parks as well as social infrastructure projects to ensure timely completion.
The Summit also resolved that amendments to the Public Finance Management Act relating to sections 191A-E be withdrawn from Parliament to allow for further consultations.
Several resolutions targeted the health sector. The Ministry of Health and CoG will, by the second week of January, develop a framework for provision of maternity services at level two and three facilities, financed through the Primary Health Care Fund under the Social Health Authority (SHA).
The Ministry will also review provisions of the Persons with Disability Act, 2025 to align exemptions for medical payments with the Social Health Insurance Act, 2023.
In addition, the communiqué announced that existing vendor installation contracts with “zero installation” under the National Equipment Support Programme will be cancelled and reallocated to new vendors.
On finances, the Treasury will be required to disburse county personnel emoluments to County Revenue Funds by the third day of every month, with the Controller of Budget expediting approvals.
Counties must then remit statutory deductions by the ninth day of each month.
The Summit affirmed that stipends for Community Health Promoters (CHPs) will be paid promptly, and that CHPs will be covered under SHA insurance on a 50-50 co-financing basis between national and county governments.
The Ministry of Health, Public Service Commission, Treasury and CoG will also develop a framework for transitioning CHPs to permanent and pensionable terms.
