Governors must reach out to others

From the dressing-down from President Uhuru Kenyatta to the hard responses from the governors, it was hard to miss the political undertones at the third Devolution Conference.

siolo Deputy Governor Mohamed Guleid. PHOTO: MOSE SAMMY/STANDARD

But then, I don't want to dwell much on the political machinations in Meru because, I think, to do so denies us a chance to audit the impact of devolution on our people.

Are we better off because of or in spite of devolution?

There is no denying that Kenya is much the better because of devolution, a key pillar of the 2010 Constitution. But of course it depends on who that question is asked.

Dwelling on the politics also denies us the chance to audit the purpose of the jamboree that gobbles up millions of shillings each year that to many, should have been put to good use like paying the doctors who are perennially on industrial strike.

But the long wail from governors at the conference feeling let down and at times sabotaged by the National Government aside, there is a deep sense of disappointment about the role of the Council of Governors (CoG).

And why not? After putting up with 50 years of social deprivation and grotesque ineptitude and inefficiency from the national government, devolution offered us something fresh, something to make us optimistic.

The annual devolution conference should therefore be where the ultimate experience of what devolution is all about comes to the fore. Not where we witness ostentation in its raw form.

Instead, the governors ought to offer generous servings of what the sum of the parts can do to make the whole country complete. Part of the reason why independence never meant much to many people 50 years later is because of the misalignment between politics and development.

The thinking of the drafters of the 2010 Constitution, to me, was to avoid this pitfall. Surely, a whopping Sh1 trillion will have gone through the hands of these 47 men. Shouldn't the CoG then do exactly the same thing the Marshal Plan did after the war in Europe?.

The CoG was established pursuant to the intergovernmental relations Act in the Constitution. Yet the incongruence between the national and county governments is frightening and, to me, undermines devolution. And it is testament of what happens when politics gets in the way of development.

Though the CoG is a member of the Summit that comprises the President, Deputy President and 47 governors. These units seem to work at cross purposes all the time. Ideally, they meet twice in a year where intergovernmental matters are discussed and negotiated. Do they meet and is their voice considered important? The furore about the medical equipment is one case where obviously, the CoG either by default or design chose to be the protagonist.

That is why I am afraid that the CoG is not really fulfilling the aspiration of the devolved governments.

In fact, it is easy to pity and celebrate the CoG secretariat; the men and women who toil in the background to get devolution working. Day in day out, they get things moving despite the huge challenges.

Organising the agenda for 47 people with diverse policy directions is no mean task. Making all those meetings and conferences useful and resourceful is next to impossible and it is easy to understand when they appear crestfallen at times.

I propose that the structure of CoG be changed to accommodate all the stakeholders in local level governance. It should not be a club of peers but an association where all county government stakeholders can equally participate; from MCAs, speakers of county assemblies, deputy governors, CECs and even a representative of the Senate.

In other parts of he world, the sub-national government union structures are all inclusive. This explains why in our leaders including MPs, senators and even MCAs boycott devolution conferences. Because there is lack of inclusivity and ownership even good decisions made at the CoG hardly trickle down to the grassroots. My believe is that even stakeholders at the community level must identify themselves with he national association of county governments and feel that they have a stake in what happens there.

After the expiry of Meru Governor Munya's turn at the heal of CoG, I suggest that governors come up with a new structure that reflects all the stakeholders within the counties first before fresh elections are held to replace him.

A rigid and non-inclusive structure as is the case currently doesn't serve us well. That is the only way to address the disharmony and distrust between the county governments and all other arms, including the national government.