By Dominic Odipo

According to Section 174(c) of the new Constitution, one of the principal objects of devolved government is to "give powers of self-governance to the people and enhance participation of the people in the exercise of the powers of the State and in making decisions affecting them".

But how exactly is this noble constitutional objective to be reached?

Under Section 132 of this Constitution, the functions of the President have been very clearly spelled out. Among these is directing and co-ordinating the functions of ministries and government departments and appointing and dismissing high commissioners, ambassadors and diplomatic and consular representatives.

But when you turn to Chapter Eleven, which deals with Devolved Government, you discover, to your astonishment, that there is no section of this Constitution, which lays out specifically the functions of the governor of a county.

How come? Was this some cheeky omission by the learned friends who drafted this constitution, meant to entrench the supposed superiority of the national government over county governments, or was it an innocent oversight with no sinister motive?

Before answering this question, one needs to peruse the relevant sections of this Constitution a little further. Section 131, which deals with authority of the President, clearly states, "The President is the Head of State and Government."

But who will be the head of the county government? Surprisingly, the Constitution does not say, at least not in so many words. Section 179(1) of this Constitution vests the executive authority of the county, not in any single individual, but in a committee!

Specifically, it states: "The executive authority of the county is vested in, and exercised by, a county executive committee."

Why did the learned drafters of this Constitution fail to vest executive authority of the county in the governor who will have been elected by voters of the entire county?

Why did they vest it in a committee, knowing very well how committees operate? Was this another innocent oversight or a highly technical manouevre meant to emasculate county governments from the beginning, or, as the drafters would say, ab initio?

Sucking bear milk

If the Constitution does not clearly specify the functions of the governor, it means then that each governor will have to identify and codify his own functions so long as he considers them reasonable, appropriate and constitutional.

He (or she) will also need to establish his own personal authority over both County Executive Committee and County Assembly since he will be the only official at that level elected countywide.

To put this another way, what the Constitution has not specifically allocated to him, he will have to identify and allocate to himself constitutionally. That is why the office of governor could turn out to be probably the most important elective office at the county level.

There is yet another reason why the position of governor will be crucial under the new constitutional dispensation.

That reason is neatly concealed in Section 174(C) quoted above.

The governor, having been elected by the majority of voters of the county, will have to ensure those people have the effective powers of self-governance and that they actually make the most important decisions affecting their daily lives.

What does this mean, in practice? It means that the governor, especially the founding or first one, will have to expand the outer reaches of devolved or county government to the furthest limits possible under the Constitution.

It means that, where the powers or interests of the national government appear to clash with those of the county government, the governor will stand or fall unflinchingly on the side of the county government or on the side of those who elected him.

It means that the governor will have to extract or constitutionally extort as much funding and other resources as possible from the national government for deployment within the county, while simultaneously keeping that self-same national government as far away as possible.

He will have to perfect the art of sucking the bear’s milk while avoiding its deadly hug!

Given these constitutional realities and vital importance of devolved government under the new dispensation, what sort of person should you be voting in for governor?

As you can easily see, all those who have worked under the central government command system, especially in the Provincial Administration, should disqualify themselves from governorship forthwith, or be so disqualified by the voters.

Discard baggage

Being used to taking orders from their superiors, they will presumably be unable to stand up to their new bosses in the national government in defence of the core interests of the county. So, for the governor’s job, no former DOs, DCs or PCs, please!

The governor will have to be a man or woman who thoroughly understands and supports the core objects and principles of devolved government and is willing to fight for them against all comers, including, first and foremost, the national government itself.

Past national government service will, therefore, be exactly the sort of baggage or experience we shall be trying to avoid like the plague. If we get the founding or first governors wrong, the very essence of devolved government could be killed even before it is born.

The writer is a lecturer and consultant in Nairobi.

dominicodipo@yahoo.co.uk