An objective appraisal of the County Development Board introduced recently by Parliament through an ammendment to the County Government Act will reveal that it will be a game changer in the way counties are managed and heralds a new phase in the march to entrench devolution in the country.
The law describes the board as 'a consultative forum' to discuss the development projects in a county, and give recommendations to the county government. It neither directs the governors to implement these recommendations, nor does it give the chair, who will be the senator, any executive power. Suggestions that it will undermine the county assemblies or usurps the role of the governors is clearly far-fecthed in my view. But for now, it will be up to the courts to determine this matter.
One of the challenges facing the counties is the perception, real or imagined, that the governor runs the county solely and to the exclusion of the local leadership. The leaders do not know the broader development perspectives of the county they represent; they do not appreciate the priorities of the counties they serve; and in most cases,they do not understand the progress of the county and hence they neither support it or defend it.
It has consequently created confusion in the understanding of how these entities work and their relationship with the leaders who represent it at national level in parliament. At local level, it is causing friction between between the governors and MCas, with increasing calls for impeachment.
A central theme in our constitution is the need for consultation in service delivery, in all aspects. It demands public participation in development planning, resource allocation, budgeting, legislation making, appointments of senior public officers, public financial management, etc.
In public finance principles, it embraces the need for openness and transparency within the meaning of public participation. It even empowers any member of the public to petition the parliament on any of these issues, including demanding removal of a public servant. And to give effect to these provisions, various legislations provide directions and measures to crystallise this noble requirement.
The dominant view is that governors do not proactively and genuinely involve the local leaders in consultation on county matters. An MP does not know what projects are planned in his or her constituency by the county government. The senator has no idea of the key programmes or activities about to be launched in his or her county.
This disconnect between the leaders also impacts negatively on the ability of the county to generate additional support from other sources outside its own revenues. The absence of collective leadership also means it impacts adversely on cohesion and teamwork in the county.
But above all, its major consequence is the apparent lack of coordination in resource allocation and planning in the county by different actors. The MPs run the increasingly huge CDF allocations, Uwezo Fund, roads funds and other develoved funds in their constituencies.
The national government, through its ministries and state agencies, still undertake many development projects, and is actively engaged in service delivery in several functions that are not devolved. The MCAs are also pursuing ward development funds that they manage. And of course, there is the county government with its resources too. There may also be donors and other players in development programmes in the county.
The key object of this board is to create a forum to bring all these players together in order to structure broader resource allocation and planning in the county to avoid duplication, wastage and inefficiencies, and enhance better planning of the development of the county.
It provides the county leaders a platform to share information, exchange views, give their development perspectives, plan for the destiny of their county and more significantly invest their resources to achieve maximum returns for their residents. In my view, it will greatly enrich the participative leadership of the county executive, limit political disquiet in the counties and get the development priorities to be owned by all. In fact, the pay-off to the governor is enormous.
It would be tragic to suggest that MPs and Senators are not county leaders. Counties need to work with them closely so that they can better serve their interests at national level. Furthermore, such a forum will also task these national leaders to raise more resources and pursue potential investors to move the county foward. It is this collective servant leadership that underpins this law.
