The County Assemblies Forum (CAF), supported by Act Change Transform (Act!) through Kenya Devolution Programme – Timiza Ugatuzi, commissioned a study to assess the quality of legislation developed by the second Session County Assemblies, i.e., from August 2017 to August 2022. This builds on lessons learnt from the body of work done by previous devolution programmes, which mainly focused on the alignment of devolution laws to the Constitution. In 2019, the Kenya Law Reform Commission undertook a study to review the implementation of county protocol for publication, while CAF assessed the quality of county legislation for public participation. Both studies highlighted significant issues with the quality of legislation developed by county governments, largely due to capacity challenges in drafting and developing well-structured Bills. This finding necessitated assessing quality issues in legislative development by second Session County Assemblies, conducting a gap analysis, and making recommendations that reflect capacity development and other needs of county governments. The specific aim of the report was to:
- Establish a comprehensive set of benchmarks for the quality of legislation.
- Assess the quality of county legislation for second Session County Assemblies.
- Provide proposals to inform capacity strengthening efforts for technical staff and members of county assemblies on law-making for third Session County Assemblies.
This report documents the quality of legislation developed by the second Session County Assembly in the water, natural resource management, agriculture, health, urban development, and climate change sectors. The findings will inform the design of interventions by the third Session County Assemblies. The report was developed in a highly participatory and inclusive process that promoted understanding and involvement by as many stakeholders within the County Assemblies and devolution chain as possible.
The study recognises the steady improvements already made in developing legislation by County Assemblies since the inception of county governments in 2013. It is hoped that the third County Assemblies will adopt and implement legislative proposals regarding reviewing and amending existing sectoral laws to improve service delivery to the people. Relevant agencies will also join CAF in supporting efforts towards strengthening the capacities of county assemblies, as outlined in the recommendations, to enable more robust and effective lawmaking processes across the country.
