Integrated Devolution Data Portal to give public access to County documents, numbers

By Amina Faki

The Kenya Association of Manufacturers in partnership with the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) have launched the Integrated Devolution Data Portal aimed at centralizing devolution data.

The platform is an interactive platform for information sharing between county governments, constitution implementation bodies, the public and other stakeholders.

“Citizens have the right to information owned by the state, the launch of the Integrated Devolution Data Portal will provide access to sites where raw data can be presented which will be useful in decision making on business and investment.” said the Cabinet Secretary of ICT, Joe Mucheru.

Mucheru said the initiation of the devolved government in Kenya, has brought with it a lot of change. Even with the benefits that come with devolution it still faces numerous challenges including over dependence on the national government for finances, unstructured mechanism to sustain investment attraction to counties, inconsistent county regulatory frameworks and lack of a national framework to guide counties in policy and legislation affecting business.

The newly launched portal will help bridge this gap.

“The Integrated Devolution Data Portal that we are launching today will encourage counties to explore their natural advantages to attract investment. Our 10-point policy agenda, which is a guide map for political leaders to centralize industrialization in their economic agenda, points out the creation of an enabling business environment as the number one priority that will guarantee job creation and economic growth. The portal will play a key role in doing this for county governments,” said KAM Head of Operation, Mr. Dalmas Okendo.

With the newly launched devolution portal, Kenyans expect to see integrity, sincerity and transparency at the county levels in terms of resource allocation and infrastructure.

The portal will serve as a central national repository for information on county legislation and devolution related issues in all the 47 counties thereby playing a vital role in public awareness by serving as a source of information on key revenue laws, county revenue enhancement measures and county taxation legislation. Moreover it will support peer learning and benchmarking.

The Commission on Revenue Allocation is mandated under Article 216 of the Constitution to make recommendations on the sharing of revenue between national and county governments and among county governments. The Commission further makes recommendations on the financing of, and financial management by county governments. In order to make appropriate recommendations, the Commission utilizes data that is accurate, credible, reliable and verifiable.