Governor Charity Ngilu with Machakos Governor Dr Alfred Mutua converse during the ongoing #DevolutionConference2021 in Makueni.
This year’s conference seeks to discuss matters of climate change cognizant to the fact that most counties are susceptible to impacts of climate change and most livelihoods and economic activities are reliant on climate-sensitive factors.
Kenya’s agricultural sector contributes to 70 per cent of GDP in the country in general, counties are developing ways of building resilience to the effects of climate change that have negatively impacted agricultural productivity in different regions.
While opening the conference today, Former Premier Raila Odinga challenged counties to see devolution as an ever-evolving system calling on them to educate their population on climate change.
Mr Odinga noted that 33 counties in the country have so far enacted the climate change policy and legal frameworks and the rest were acting on the same. He further lauded Kitui, Makueni, Wajir, Isiolo and Garissa counties for establishing county climate change funds, calling on the remaining to follow suit even as the effects of change continue to strike the country.
Raila also stated the need to redefine and renew devolution to make it deliver better to the people noting that old challenges were still a setback and posing pressure on both national and county governments. “Unemployment, deepening poverty and rising cost of living have left our people disappointed and at times angry at their leaders”. He said.
Mr Odinga opened the forum with Dr Fred Matiang’i on behalf of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
