CoG chairman should respect presidency

The new constitutional dispensation brought with it the 47 devolved units which are an imitation of the national government.

The essence of devolution as envisaged in the Constitution was to bring Government services closer to the people.

The National Assembly in 2012 enacted the Inter-Governmental Relations Act no. 2 of 2012, to give effect to the spirit of consultation and co-operation. The Act sets out the principles of Inter-governmental Relations which apply to both the national and county governments. This saw the formation of the council of governors.

The council among other roles ensures sharing of information on the performance of counties, considering matters of common interest to county governments and resolving disputes between counties.

However, those elected to head the council openly disrespect the presidency. This was evident during the tenure of Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto and now with his successor Peter Munya (Meru).

Several reasons could be the cause of this trend. First is the fact that with the further separation of powers brought about by devolution, the presidency is induced to govern more through persuasion than command. Second, the chairman of the council of governors is unanimously elected by the governors themselves enjoying support from all counties.

The council' chairman enjoys the support from the main opposition coalition, the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy since both are pushing for the same agenda that seeks to increase funds allocated to counties. But this does not give the Council of Governors' chairman the right to disrespect the presidency.

His role is to protect devolution and to ensure smooth running of the counties and he should remember that the presidency is the highest office in the country despite the existence of governors.