Nyeri County in central Kenya expects to be considered for a Ksh352 million ($2.7 million) World Bank funding under the Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP) Level II.

This is after the county wrapped up the KDSP II programme under Level I which had been allocated a total of Ksh72.9 million by the global financer.

Under KDSP I, Nyeri managed to construct a 175-bed Level 4 hospital in Naromoru, Kieni sub-county, one of its kind in the expansive area.

Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga says he is confident the county will be considered for the second tier level funding slated for announcement in April following a successful implementation of the first phase of the programme.

“I am proud to report that Nyeri County successfully met all the Level 1 minimum conditions under the Second Kenya Devolution Support Program (KDSP II), in accordance with the program guidelines and as independently verified by the Independent Verification Assessor from the State Department for Devolution.

The Level 2 assessment is expected to be conducted in April 2026, and we look forward to qualifying to receive a reward of Ksh352.5 million,” Governor Kahiga posted on his official Facebook page.

KDSP is a four-year programme (2024-2027) financed by the World Bank to support capacity building and technical assistance at five key result areas as identified in the national capacity building framework(NCBF).

This framework was developed in 2013 but later revised in 2015 to cover emerging areas of capacity building like technical assistance, on the job learning and knowledge and learning exchange programmes.

Kahiga emphasized the need for synergy among all players in the execution of public programmes noting that the success of KDSP II would not have been possible without collaboration for all the concerned parties. He also reiterated the need for seamless execution of similar programmes in coming days stressing that without optimal input from all the implementing parties such outcome will never be realized.

“Today, I officially closed the KDSP II Progress Review Workshop. I emphasised the need for collective collaboration to realise the programme’s objectives aimed at strengthening county performance in the financing, management, coordination and accountability of resources,” he said.

“As the workshop came to a close on the final day, I joined members of all three entities:  the county programme steering committee, county programme technical committee, and county programme implementation unit in reviewing the county’s own source revenue through a presentation made by KRA.”

At the county level, KDSP is implemented through the county programme steering committee with the governor as chairperson.

Others who sit in the committee are CEC in charge of devolution matters, CEC Finance, chair county public service board, speaker of county assembly and the county secretary.

While all the 47 counties have signed participation agreements for the programme, qualification for funding depends on how well resources are utilised under a two-tier funding model.

Under Level I a county must demonstrate accountability of the funds through published budgets and clean audits.

On the other hand, investment grants (Level II) are disbursed based on performance or disbursement link indicators (DLIs) by counties.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Samuel Maina