Raila Odinga Proposes Devolution of Education, Wants Counties to Run Secondary Schools: "It's Time"
- Raila Odinga urged for the full devolution of key functions, including education, to strengthen county governance
- He warned against the duplication of duties between national and county governments, saying it wastes time and resources
- The former premier also called for revisiting 2010 constitutional compromises that left primary and secondary education under national control
TUKO.co.ke journalist Harry Ivan Mboto has over three years of experience reporting on politics and current affairs in Kenya
A charged call to shift more power from Nairobi to the grassroots rang out, as ODM leader Raila Odinga pressed for a fresh wave of devolution reforms.
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Speaking on Thursday, August 14, during the 2025 Devolution Conference in Homa Bay, Raila said that the spirit of the 2010 Constitution was rooted in cooperation between national and county governments.
He stressed that this cooperation should eliminate, not encourage, overlapping duties that waste time, effort and money.
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"Our constitution clearly stipulates that the two levels of government depend on each other. That cooperation should help us do away with, not enhance, duplication that results in wastage of time, efforts and money," he said.
Raila pointed out that there is still confusion over which responsibilities fall to the national government and which belong to counties, a situation he said could weaken accountability.
He called for all devolved functions to be handed fully to counties, with additional areas brought under their control.
"We must continue demanding that counties be granted full control of all devolved functions. At the same time, we need to bring more areas into the devolution fold," he added.
Did KNUT oppose devolution of education?
The former prime minister revisited the negotiations that shaped the 2010 Constitution, recalling how debates over education nearly derailed the process.
According to him, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) strongly opposed devolving the sector, fearing it would weaken their influence.
"Our constitution was marked by negotiations and give and take. To avoid a clash with KNUT, we only devolved early childhood education, because they had threatened to mobilise teachers to reject the constitution if education was devolved. That is why education was not fully devolved," he explained.
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Why Raila wants Education devolved up to secondary school
Raila argued that the time had come to decentralise education up to the secondary school level.
He argued that it was inefficient for the Cabinet secretary for Education to travel across the country inspecting facilities, a task he said should be reserved for county governors.
"It makes no sense to see the Cabinet secretary for Education going to Marsabit or Garissa just to inspect primary school structures. That is work that should be done by the governor of those counties," he said.
Should top-performing counties be rewarded?
Speaking in the same forum, Raila urged the creation of a national reward system to recognise counties delivering outstanding services.
He said this would motivate regional governments to raise their performance standards.
He proposed that counties excelling in areas such as poverty reduction, youth unemployment, and environmental conservation should receive incentives from the national government.
Raila emphasised the need for transparent performance reporting to give the public access to reliable data, enabling them to evaluate counties and make informed economic and social decisions.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
