High expectations followed the promulgation of the new Constitution by former President Kibaki on August 27, 2010. The country had adopted a new system of governance that the citizens believed held a lot of promise for them in terms of development. Of particular interest was the concept of devolution. Under devolution, most government services were to be decentralised to the counties to preclude instances where people had to travel long distances to get certain services from government offices in Nairobi. A relatively new concept without precedent, devolution took off, apparently on the wrong footing, and attempts to remedy the situation so far appear to be largely unsuccessful.
The precursor to the malady that pervades counties in terms of leadership paralysis has its genesis in Embu County where Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) sought to impeach the Governor, citing all manner of misdeeds. In quick succession, this has spread to other counties, notably Kericho, Bungoma, Machakos, Busia and Makueni. Underlying the claims and counter-claims in the impeachment battles, is nothing more than the governors’ reluctance to dance to the tune of the MCAs and supremacy duels with political undertones.
While in Embu the war has been fought in the corridors of justice, in Makueni County, things went out of control and six people are nursing gunshot wounds. It is incomprehensible why nearly all counties have to contend with petty issues of differences arising between MCAs, County Assembly Speakers, county executives and the governors.
Clearly, MCAs appear to be at the centre of most of the problems besetting the counties. This begs the question: what is the role of the MCA? Does that role revolve merely around impeachments? There is too much mistrust and infighting that counties are in danger of not implementing their development agendas.
In Makueni, for instance, the move by Governor Kivutha Kibwana, to push for the dissolution of the county is unprecedented. While the belligerents initially appeared to have come to terms with the reality of a by-election and indicated their intention to withdraw an impeachment motion against the governor, all that changed later in the week when the MCAs proceeded to impeach him. As expected, the governor is challenging the move.
While leaders of the counties engage in fisticuffs and verbal exchanges, the common man to whom they owe their jobs, has been ignored. Will the remedy to this impasse include taking away the excessive powers that MCAs have been given? On Wednesday, the High Court sitting in Bungoma ruled that MCAs had no authority to fire county executives, for they cannot be the accuser and judge at the same time without there being a travesty of justice.
When will the common citizen enjoy the fruits of devolution that should easily manifest themselves in good roads, provision of clean drinking water, medical facilities with enough stocks of medicines, quality education and the lighting up of homes? Many counties have not started implementing development projects because leaders have been engaged in battles whose only objective appears to be self-aggrandisement.
In the last financial year, billions of shillings earmarked for the counties were unutilised. Though the county leadership blamed this on cumbersome procurement procedures, and absence of structures - those making news due to endless infighting will have to find other excuses this year. Giving quality service to citizens is not negotiable and leaders must put their differences aside, in the public interest, to make this a reality. If the proposal to raise the threshold for MCAs can help in solving leadership wrangles, then it should be expedited.
The law requires that to be eligible to hold office, a governor must have a university degree. The law has not put a definite entry point for MCAs, yet these two are supposed to continually interact and engage in constructive debates on a daily basis. This unintended oversight makes interaction at the same intellectual level difficult for both parties. Complexes are bound to come up and cloud perception and objectivity.
Perhaps it’s time we went back to the drawing board to amend the relevant laws that will help to bring sanity to the counties.
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