By Alexander Chagema
The essence of devolution was not only to bring services closer to the people but also improve their socio-economic status in a conducive and adaptable political environment unique to each county.
Realisation of devolution as envisaged would come at a heavy cost, which translates into heavier taxation at a time when the purchasing power of the ordinary citizen has been seriously eroded by a non-performing economy.
Governors are determined to raise revenue within their respective counties through introduction of numerous, often punitive taxes, a move that has been met with hostile resistance.
It is unreasonable to expect citizens to pay the numerous hefty taxes being imposed while the cost of living, medicare and education are a nightmare most people are hoping to wake up from.
In Kakamega County, for instance, the governor hopes to raise taxes from churches, the dead, anybody rearing chicken or breeding cattle and mama mboga whose daily sales average Sh200 out of which she must part with Sh100 to enrich the county coffers.
How then do we hope to encourage small businesses and tackle poverty while fighting unemployment? Kakamega County ranks among the poorest in the country, with no industries.
I have seen families bury their dead kin in offcuts because a coffin costing Sh2,000 is a luxury they can only dream of. How are they expected to raise Sh5,000 to get a burial permit?
If residents must pay Sh20 for every chicken reared, Sh300 for every pig and Sh500 for every head of cattle one has, is it worth starting projects involving the same considering the project costs?
The organisational structure of a devolved system will be its undoing since many of the institutions created are superfluous.
Having governors, senators, Members of Parliament, county representatives and ministers at the county level, all drawing huge salaries besides other perks, is an unnecessary drain on public finances, leaving little or nothing for service provision and betterment.
A year down the line, counties are yet to be felt except for the war of words between senators, governors and the central government over who should do what and who is superior to the other.
All this bureaucracy, infighting and haphazard manner in which counties are run beg the question; are they viable as constituted today, and how effective are they?
Has it been noticed that counties entrench tribalism and nepotism? Is the wage bill, which includes millions spent on gallivanting in the guise of seeking investors, and the confusion, worth the bother?
Government operations from a centralised command with clear-cut duties as it was before the adaptation of the Constitution, apart from laxity, appeared more orderly and purposeful.
Cutting down on expenditure should be any prudent government’s priority. This can be achieved through scrapping some of the institutions.
