Devolution conference was a meaningless undertaking

For all intents and purposes, the Second Devolution Conference kicked off on Tuesday at Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu County, with countless expecting the best from it. The best of our Governors to be exact.

Indeed, it is good to expect the best from any endeavour. But the best doesn’t always materialize from any of our undertakings. True or false?

But I have irrefutable confidence that the Devolution Conference or conferences for that matter are not among the best platforms to discuss matters to do with governance and effective devolution. Therefore, as I will explain shortly, the conference, without fear of censure, is a meaningless undertaking.

This I will explain through radical analysis of the event and its intentions. In other words, I am going to deconstruct this over-emphasized Devolution Conference over literal servant leadership.

First and foremost, who are the organizers of the pocket-denting conference? Are they the Wananchi (nowadays ‘Wenyenchi’)? No. Government? Yes. Governors? Yes. The High and Mighty? Yes. The Poor? No.

Hence the follow-up question: Who are going to really benefit? All? No. The select few? Definitely yes.

Who will be attending in large numbers to discuss the most important issues? As usual, the ones we have elected and the other elites. So the common Mwananchi will still be left behind somehow, no matter what else is done to make up for the oversight.

I am also not so sure whether all representatives of the people in government will be attending such a crucial event. This makes the whole exercise almost pointless-of course it will become pointless with time.

Another palatable observation is that the leaders we have sent to that conference will not all be going back to the grassroots to implement the radical resolutions, failing society once more.

The representatives, I am sure, are just going to be enjoying themselves in the strictest sense rather than merely employing themselves in productive discussions—the kind that will yield noble solutions to the problems at hand. Failing the electorate once more.

While we are talking about balancing Devolution, the Conference is set to toughen one of the most common hard nuts to crack in this country: regional imbalance. As “all roads” will be leading to Kisumu, essential resources will also be moving to Kisumu. Hence Kisumu will soon, if not in the distant future, be better than most Counties.

To avoid these accusations, the Governors and the elite must just implement what they discussed in and out of the conference and come and give us back value for our money. Otherwise, they will have squandered public resources, one of the main reasons they should no continue serving us.

That is the Devolution Conference for you— radically analysed for the benefit of the Mwananchi and all those who care.