Devolution at 5: Why Kenyans will wait longer for economic change

Taking milk to the market

A five-year-old child can walk, talk and do some chores. Likewise, our devolved system of governance, at five, is old enough to be evaluated on walking, talking and performance of duties.

Most Kenyans believed devolution was the linchpin around which the 2010 constitution revolved. They celebrated it. The voters were told they would now get resources from the central government, ‘maendeleo itakuja’. They were made to believe the national government was hoarding development, and only dishing it to those who toed the line and voted for it.