Citizens have power to change wanting quality of leadership

Youth during anti-tax protests. [File, Standard]

The failure of leadership at the county level in Kenya remains one of the clearest indicators of a deeper national governance crisis. Devolution was meant to empower localised governance and drive people-centred development. Instead, many county governments have become synonymous with waste, mismanagement, and lost opportunity.

Auditor General reports consistently reveal that most counties spend disproportionately on recurrent expenditure, with little to show in transformative development. The few counties that once showed promise, such as Makueni under Governor Kivutha Kibwana, stand in sharp contrast to the prevailing poor performance across the rest of the country. This is where our leadership challenge is most visible and urgent.