NAIROBI, Kenya – The government has revealed plans to allocate an additional Sh2.1 billion to operationalise 1,105 administrative units across the country.
Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security, Internal Security Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo disclosed that the State Department for Internal Security had only received Sh666 million in the supplementary budget, leaving a significant funding gap.
“To implement the operationalisation of these units, we need an additional Sh2.1 billion. We were only allocated Sh666 million in the supplementary budget,” PS Omollo told lawmakers on Thursday.
The committee is chaired by Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo.
The funds are required to operationalise 24 subcounties, 88 divisions, 318 locations, and 675 sublocations.
Omollo noted that the allocated funds would also enhance the Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) for field officers, ensuring efficient service delivery at the grassroots level.
The PS highlighted the lack of a formal policy guiding the operationalisation of administrative units.
However, he assured MPs that the ministry had prepared a Cabinet Memorandum outlining guidelines for the creation and activation of new administrative units.
This memorandum will soon be presented to the Cabinet for approval.
“Since the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya in 2010 and the enactment of the National Government Coordination Act in 2013, it has been a requirement that administrative units must be gazetted before they can be operationalised,” Omollo explained. “This process ensures that all communities, including marginalised groups, have access to essential government services.”
Lawmakers, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of operationalising new units.
Some noted that certain units have remained dormant for over a decade despite being gazetted.
Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma decried the situation in his constituency, where several units remain non-functional 10 years after being gazetted.
“The ministry must ensure these units are fully functional to enhance service delivery,” urged Tongoyo.
