Kenya's county bosses on edge as reality on promises sets in

A wind farm in Ngong near Nairobi. How will counties attract such investments? Photo by XN Iraki

NAIROBI, KENYA: The biggest tragedy for politics is that it has no precedence. Past experience is not always an asset. The key ingredient of politics is people; moody, unpredictable and self interested.

What one sees outside politics is not what you see while inside.

The new MCAs, MPs, senators and governors will soon face the political and economic realities.

The honeymoon often ends before it begins. The first politicians to confront the unholy alliance between politics and economics are the governors.

They have started with the labour force, quickly sending some of their workers home, or suspending them.

The governors can’t do much with the other factors of production such as capital, land and entrepreneurship. Labour appears the most dispensable, but the riskiest politically.

Bloated workforce in the counties is no news. The governors were quick to hire new employees as soon as they assumed office in 2013. And why not; jobs were one attraction for devolution.

The counties felt that their people would get jobs at the counties that they could not get at the national level. The percentage of staff set for non-locals was quickly filled by locals. Bloated workforce was also common in the former county councils. Government jobs are precious at county level, where industries are rare.

Apart from teaching, county government jobs are the other safe and “clean” jobs. Over-employment is common in counties because there are no penalties for that. In addition, loyalty is often more valued in Government than productivity, which is hard to measure. The reality is that hiring more people means more votes during the polls.

The average Kenyan does not understand the concept of bloated workforce or productivity.

You get a job for yourself, work as little as possible and expect as high pay as possible.

Bloated workforce is common in Government agencies too. Blame unemployment and lack of alternatives like industrialisation.

Truth be told, employment is preferred to taking risk as an entrepreneur.

The governors will find a bloated workforce. What did they expect? With zeal, they will sack, demote or suspend them. Unless one is in his last term, the political backlash will come to haunt them in 2022.

Incidentally, lots of governors in their election pledges and inaugural speeches promised their people jobs. They have only a few jobs under their control. The vast number of jobs is created by the private sector; that is a global truth. The governors should focus on making their counties as attractive to investors as possible to create more jobs.

After 2013, governors held investment conferences to showcase their county economic potential. How successful was this initiative? Can the outgoing governors share data on direct investment in their counties since 2013?

Investment in counties is held back by failure to appreciate the economic power of diversity.

How many counties are like Nairobi, attracting investors from all over the world and counties? Which county can claim to be our California or New York?

 

Welcome investors

Most counties suffer from the legacy of tribalism; they find it easier to welcome investors from outside the country than from neighbouring counties.

Yet foreign investors have more choices globally and are sensitive to local issues. Local investors are here to stay. The spectre of 2007/2008 post-election violence made lots of investors play safe by investing in their counties. This approach could widen the economic gap between counties.

The reality on the ground is that devolution was not enough. Money from the national government is not enough.

We have repeatedly argued that more money is in private hands than in public hands.

Governors should seek these private funds by making their counties friendlier to investors.

Bad and petty politics is the other obstacle to private investment in counties. No investor wants to spend his time and money fighting bureaucracy.

We can all recall the collapse of a wind power project in Kinangop, Nyandarua where only 43 per cent of the population have access to electricity. The project worth Sh15 billion was abandoned after farmers backtracked on leasing their land for wind turbines. Will other investors risk?

The failed project fascinates me because of history. I recently met Jeanette (Blue) Pockley, who once lived in Ol Joro Orok , Nyandarua from 1929 and is now based in Australia. She shared with me a photo of a “windcharger,” a wind powered gadget her Father Edmund (Tam) Pierce used to charge a battery in the house for lighting around 1934. In 2017, 88 years later, Nyandarua people can’t see the need of wind power!

The old mentality that the Government will solve all our problems was devolved. The truth is that despite all the levels of government, we still have to play our roles as individuals.

The Government ought to make our lives easier by providing us with the public goods such as security, roads, and sewerage that are better provided by regulated monopolies.

But we still must do our part in turning the reluctant wheel of progress. For the new governors, being elected was the easier part. It was a one day affair.

Creating jobs, ensuring economic growth in your county is not that easy, takes longer and has no algorithm. It will demand your creativity, innovation and help.

The political side of leadership is much easier than the economic side. But someone must take the burden of leadership.

The writer teaches at the University of Nairobi