As we congregate for the devolution conference in Eldoret Uasin Gishu county this week, it is imperative for all to take stock of the achievements and challenges of the devolved system of governance.
Kenyans have to interrogate the gains and misses in realisation of dreams of devolution. In assessing this, all stakeholders need to reflect on the objects and rationale of devolution as the basis of any critical examination the successes and failures of the system.
The 2010 Constitution underscores the objective of the devolved system which is to achieve, among others, accountable exercise of power, power of self-governance and enhanced participation of the people in the exercise of powers of the state and in making decisions affecting them.
Others include the promotion and protection of the interests and rights of the minorities and marginalised, social and economic development and provision of proximate easily accessible services throughout Kenya and enhanced checks and balances and separation of powers.
The above encapsulate the aspiration of the devolved systems.
To begin with, devolution was celebrated for its great promises and expectations, especially for those marginalised and unrepresented in the central governments. It was a promise to majority of Kenyans in periphery of power that services will come home, lives will improve and they will handle their affairs and service their interest better.
However, 10 years later, though some gains are noted, corruption and bad governance remain the biggest headache that frustrate the realisation of those promises.
It is a public knowledge that the biggest part of the Kenya population live in the rural areas which the devolve governments cover. KNBS data show that we have more poor in the rural areas than in urban.
According to the Institute of Economic Affairs Key Insights from the Kenya Poverty Report, hardcore poverty is more in rural areas at 40.7 per cent than in the urban, which is 34.1 per cent.
The biggest percentage of people who cannot afford food are domiciled in rural areas. In the report, the counties of Turkana, Mandera, Samburu, Tana River, Wajir , Marsabit , Garissa , West Pokot and Kilifi are food poor.
The National Ethics and Corruption Survey, 2021, by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission reveals that Kenyans are more concerned with graft, unemployment and high cost of living. People surveyed are of the view that the level of service provision by the county government are slightly below average.
The level of delivery of critical service like of ECDE and village polytechnics and health care services stand at 46.8 per cent and 44.5 per cent, respectively.
In the study, the level of public confidence on state offices in the fight against corruption is not impressive too. 27.4 per cent of the respondents have confidence in the governors’ office while that of senators and members of the county assembly stand at 28.6 per cent and 19.8 per cent, respectively.
Further, another study by the EACC on graft in the healthcare projects done in 2021 indicate that most of the projects are rife with favouritism, bribery, conflict of interest, undue influence and lack of public participation.
For instance, 78.7 per cent of the respondents reported that they were never involved in projects and counties of Garissa, Wajir and Nairobi showed least public involvement in such projects. High level of undue influence in procurement process was also reported, with the counties of Wajir, Embu and Machakos leading the pack.
On who mostly influences the projects, the governors are the most followed by the MCAs and MPs. Another challenge observed is the payment for incomplete projects with counties of Homa Bay, Wajir and Migori having the highest.
The above findings should always prick the conscience of any reasonable and concerned leader entrusted to midwife the aspirations of devolution. As stewards, leaders should ask the hard and pertinent question, are our decisions in line with the dreams of devolution of changing lives?
Are counties realising their potentials? Counties leaders should be the first ones to be concerned if the same enemies of poverty, preventable diseases, underdevelopment and lack of basic services still bedevil Kenyans as few get richer with the resources allocated to provide these services to Kenyans.
It is the observation of Prof Paul Collier in his book, The Bottom Billion: Why Poor Countries are Failing and What Can be Done About It, that the biggest hurdle that can hamstring any society to realise its potentials is bad governance.
He opines that corruption makes one not to make use of opportunities. The stunted growth and continuous underdevelopment can only be attributed to the dearth of good leadership. The institutionalisation of extractive cultures and broken systems will work for those in power and their cronies and will never help in the delivery of public goods.
Even as the constitution set the aspirations, no county can realise it without having ethical, competent, visionary and transformative leaders to steer the ship of devolution to the Promised Land.
Otherwise, there is no magic bullet, but fixing the leadership question and streamline the systems of governance. The failure to address corruption and bad governance will continue undermining the realisation of the much heralded devolution dreams.
Lawyer and governance analyst
