Money-hungry counties overreaching themselves on international relations’, The Standard

Wanja, S. (2019)

County leaders have been traversing the globe seeking to promote their regions’ social, political, economic and cultural interests. They are increasingly responding to global challenges, which are interrelated with domestic issues, as they seek to represent the local communities over whom they have responsibilities to harness resources.

The Constitution grants counties autonomy to legislate on what can be defined as low policy issues. These range from investment promotion to environmental issues, and cultural and educational exchanges. At present, Kenya’s development agenda is guided by seven key agendas, including Vision 2030, and counties play a key role in it. The ways they do this are wide and varied.

One of the key ways has been to woo investors through policy and incentives. Counties such as Machakos have attracted investors by cutting back on bureaucratic blockades and creating a conducive business environment that has seen an investment portfolio of over Sh100 billion in the last six years.

Meru has offered free land to Chinese investors interested in setting up agribusiness processing plants and hospitality ventures. Kisii has received Sh110 million from the European Union to strengthen its banana value chain, while the World Bank has provided aid to Nyandarua in the setting up of a potato-processing plant.

USAID, through its AHADI programme, has partnered with 22 counties to improve governance, whereas counties such as Makueni, Turkana, Baringo and other arid and semi-arid counties have signed deals with the World Food Programme to promote sustainable food systems.