The immediate impacts of devolution on the structure and financing of the WASH sector in Kenya

This paper outlines the immediate impacts of devolution on the structure and funding of the WASH sector in Kenya. WASH was one of the 14 sectors for which functions were devolved from the National level to 47 newly formed County governments. This change in the WASH sector structure follows a series of wider sector reforms during the 2000s which established a wide range of institutions which are still in the process of establishing their relationship with the newly formed county administrations. This paper outlines the institutional structure of the WASH sector through key legislation in the last 20 years. The paper then briefly reviews the consequence of devolution for public financial management (PFM) as well as the impact this has on WASH sector funding and financing.