A new report says counties have failed to actualise devolution and blames governors for condoning corruption.
In the report dubbed ‘Election Agenda 2017 and Beyond — Election Issuefication’, which was launched at Hekima University College in Nairobi Tuesday, the county bosses have been faulted for devolving all the ‘bad habits’ of the national government instead of focusing on their mandate of service delivery.
Participants attending the launch hit out at the county bosses, who are said have given devolution a bad name by condoning corruption, ethnicity and skewed employment in the counties.
The study’s findings show public confidence in the counties is low compared to confidence in the national government.
According to the report, governors’ priorities are misplaced as they are more focused on major projects such as infrastructure and not paying attention to the issues affecting ‘Wanjiku’ such as inadequate healthcare, water shortage, poor education and lack of agriculture input among others.
“What goes to development and what goes to recurrent expenditure is worrying. We have a big problem with that. More has been spent on recurrent expenditure than development especially at the county level,” said principal researcher Elias Mokua.
“At the county level, borrowing seems to be taking place contrary to the law, which requires that the national government guarantees borrowing by the county government,” he added.
Dr Mokua said the national government has performed better than the counties.
Speakers at the event led by Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro, Catholic Bishop Cornelius Korir, Senator Hassan Omar (Mombasa) and Fr Joseph Afulo said it was unfortunate that governors had failed the electorate.
They argued that Kenyans wanted servant leadership apart from the centralised management.
“Devolution is a game changer. It is meant to devolve power, resources and governance from the centre. It’s unfortunate that what has been devolved is bad habits to the counties,” said Mr Ethuro.
Omar, Korir and Afulo welcomed the report, saying it was very important at this particular time to enable the electorate make informed choices.
“It is important that intellectuals are venturing into the political space and asking the critical questions that will guide Kenyans during elections. It is not about bling and swag; rather, all those in elective positions must deliver their mandate,” said Senator Omar.
He challenged researchers to audit the objectives of devolution to help Kenyans understand the role of both levels of government.
Service delivery
“Devolution is about service delivery and social justice. There are always issues of contest between the two levels of government. Governors should prioritise their projects according to the needs of their people,” said the senator.
Fr Afulo and Bishop Korir questioned why Kenya should still be dealing with longstanding issues of poverty, ignorance and disease, which could easily be addressed by the counties.
“Life in Kenya is too expensive. We are very far from honouring the Constitution. We have a strange degree of corruption and ethnicity, and now in both levels of government. Governors should be the leaders in enhancing national cohesion,” said Afulo.
“We should evaluate the performance of our leaders before we vote them in,” added Korir.
