Kibaki roots for devolution

By Michira Moses

Nairobi,KENYA: President Mwai Kibaki spent his last public event as the head of State to order the newly-elected governors to stop fighting county commissioners, citing that their appointment is backed by the law.

Mr Kibaki, who is expected to hand over power to President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta next week Tuesday, asked the governors to accommodate county commissioners in the new devolved government structure.

“Some people have got it wrong in their heads that what they are looking for is not in the constitution of Kenya,” said President Kibaki, addressing the governors, their deputies and county speakers.

“We should keep in mind that despite the devolution of power and resources, Kenya remains a single unitary State and that is the constitution,” he added.

The comments that were off his speech, repeating the words unitary state over ten times as he meant to insist that devolution was only meant to help in the sharing of the national resources rather than creating independent regions.

He maintained that the Constitution had never been repealed to introduce any changes on the role of the provincial administration, indirectly defending his appointees as county and Regional Commissioners, formerly Provincial Commissioners.

Kibaki was addressing recent events where the newly elected governors have tried pushing out officials of the provincial administration as they jostle for both office space and homes in various counties across the country.

The governors are attending an induction conference in Naivasha, an four-day event which is likely to be Kibaki’s last official event he graces to crown his 10-year regime as head of state.

The governors are a creation of the constitution that became operational in 2010 but were only elected in the March 4 elections and sworn in to office last week.

They have however been forced to work alongside county commissioners who are Presidential appointees, but whose stay in office was overturned by the High Court last year.

Despite the ruling, the county commissioners have remained in office stirring national debate on whether the constitution was clear on what roles they would play after the entry of the devolved government structure and the subsequent assumption of office by governors.

Office of the President has however declined to reverse their appointment citing that their role would mainly be restricted to security at the county level; a role it claims cannot be devolved.

Kinuthia Wamwangi said that the county commissioners would be retained as the eyes of the Central government at the County level where they would be mandated with maintaining security.

Among the top officials who have resisted Kibaki’s appointment of county commissioners is Prime Minister Raila Odinga, whose tenure also ends next week after Mr Kenyatta assumes office.

Several governors said they were ready to abide by the directive with Makueni’s Kivutha Kibwana quipping that the push was all about space to work from.