Graft in counties points to deep underlying problems

This was a distressing week for county governments. First, the Nyaoga Commission proposed suspension of the Makueni County. Though its proposals were rejected, the Commission’s report is a severe indictment of all institutions in that county. Imagine a county unable to pass a budget for two years, where leaders settle duels through gunfights, where almost no laws have been passed since inception and where the Executive has hardly implemented any programmes. Yet in this same county, MCAs in just one year made 14 foreign trips to such exotic destinations as Seychelles, Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai earning millions of shillings in per-diems.

What is most disconcerting is that Makueni is just a symptom of a virus that infects many of our devolved units. The pain of the Makueni blow had not eased before the audit reports on some counties were released. In one unforgettable case, a county government is said to have purchased wheelbarrows at Sh109,000 a piece! In another county, the management of the county Facebook account cost a cool Sh1.2 million while a gate in another county cost some Sh7.6 million.