The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is right in expressing concern at the potential of high corruption at the county level. The EACC is, equally, right to urge the central government to ensure governors and other elected leaders conduct their affairs in a transparent manner by ensuring strong structures and governance systems are put in place — fast.
The shenanigans already emerging on how governors spent the money they were allocated to set up offices is an indication of the heavy price the country is likely to pay unless our leaders stop their bickering and get down to the business of setting up proper accountability systems.
The reality that Transparency International ranked Kenya 139th out of 176 countries in its Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 should also be a wake-up call to our leaders for it means that the country can’t afford to have a government that runs its business as usual.
The first step should be to set up clear guidelines on how the devolved funds are to be spent particularly on procurement and allowances. This means that competitive prices and quality of the goods and services paid for match the best possible standards.
The drawing up of clear guidelines in a language that is readily understandable to a majority of people will mean that the common wananchi will be able to play their oversight role to ensure county authorities do not stray from the straight and narrow path of financial discipline and integrity. The voters, with the assistance of various watchdog organisations, will need to be particularly vigilant in areas where all the elected leaders are from the same party.
The various debates going on over salaries for the elected officials and the amount of money that will be devolved to county governments should not be allowed to distract the country from the looming danger of mis-spent billions of shillings. Each county will get between Sh3 billion and Sh15 billion, depending on the size of the population, among other indices used by the Commission on Revenue Allocation to distribute funds.
A lot of this money is borrowed. And as every borrower knows, failure to spend borrowed money wisely often leads to penury. It is also acknowledged that what is true for an individual is equally true for a country.
