I was very excited the moment we managed to change the 2010 Constitution. Having already matured and grown up during the older constitution dispensation through a bit of Jomo Kenyatta and a long period of Moi leadership, I could tell something was not right with the constitution we had.
The 2007 presidential election and the crisis that followed enhanced my feelings that there was something to fix quite urgently on our constitution. Allocation of resources across the country was a major issue and winning the presidency looked like the only way that can guarantee your region something substantial for development.
When the new constitution birthed the devolution, hence the counties, I was elated. But something is not yet right with our devolution. Counties are also becoming another challenge for the nation in terms of so many issues we keep seeing there.
If one looks at some of the regular reports on the media, especially on audits and crackdown on corruption by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, counties have serious issues that need to be addressed.
Yet we need devolution and counties to stay. I have been in so many parts of the country and I can tell of the positive impacts of having counties as opposed to before. But counties need to be reformed to be more useful. There are too many issues emerging from them and they include the disease we have had with all our post-independence governments, corruption.
Corruption is a disease so embedded in our country's character and behaviour. Personal and groups economic and political interests in counties will also keep counties having a lot of fights. It seems then counties are also centres for ‘eating’ if I have to use the common lingua franca that I hear from people when they speak of the ills in the government.
The 'eating ' is our biggest undoing. Our character of public service is with the mindset that once you have an opportunity or power ‘it is your or our time to eat.’ Others who are out also want their chance, hence the many political fights that happen all over Kenya. This is to mean to enrich oneself by all means and mostly fraudulently.
I have just started to look at my county of birth Meru on the numerous fights occurring between Governor Kawira Mwangaza with the MCAs and other politicians who include the MPs and the senator.
Kawira has just gone through another impeachment at the county assembly. I rarely had so much to get very interested in the county politics but now this should be a case study to find out why we have so much infighting in counties. We have had Embu county during now retired Governor Martin Wambora era of so many fights at the assembly.
I can’t obviously fail to see what has ever been the infighting at Kiambu County and even now there are simmering differences. So the question for Meru is what has Kawira legally failed to do or has done wrong? I will be keen to see the presentations on this matter when it gets at the Senate. We need to see this matter being fully unveiled and the Senate have to dig very deep to lay all the issues bare.
Several times I supplied goods and services to a few counties during the first two terms of the devolution. I really had to rue the day I got involved in these business opportunities with counties. I lost all the money on these supplies. Today, whenever I’m approached by anyone from any county I take a lot of caution.
No matter how lucrative the tender or business opportunity with the county looks, I mostly keep off. I have friends who have lost a lot of money supplying counties. This happens especially if the governor happens to lose his/her seat after one term or has served the two terms and can’t go back.
I have been variously told that if you want to supply something and get easily paid by the counties, you have to hold the supplying entity or company as joint ownership and joint banks with the governor or the spouse. Else also you have to be involved with an entity so connected with them. I gave up on supplying counties after this.
Skewed resource allocation, power plays, tenders, greed, misuses of resources, political machinations, succession schemes, dirty schemes and so on seem to be some of the dangers encumbering counties. The route of impeaching the governors through MCAs though a useful legal set up is also one that can and has been easily abused by them or other political or powerful forces.
I'm told that many governors have to bend rules and give in to MCAs interests to survive their terms or else they face impeachment. I’m not in defence of any county governor or governors at all. I only sense more trouble brewing in numerous counties if even the past or what I keep hearing or learning is anything to go by. I have personally dealt with so many leaders at county levels and I get to hear a lot.
Devolution must be made to work since the old system denied many regions reasonable allocation of resources unlike today. Some counties are even able to provide almost or full support to students going to various schools.
This is impressive. If we were to cut the wastage in counties and at the national government we would make Kenya a success model to watch. Some counties have even managed to construct and tarmac roads for the first time ever. Counties are a good nexus for development but we must find ways to legally to tame their propensity to waste resources.
The writer is a political, economic and social analyst and commentator
