We are a de-facto ‘majimbo’ State

It is time Kenya changed its name to the Federal Republic of Kenya.

This is because nearly all appointments made in the public service, the private sector, NGOs and the church are based on regionalism.

The founding fathers of the republic must be wondering why leaders did not pass this as a resolution at the just-ended conference on the ‘Kenya We Want’.

The debate on devolution of power, federalism, majimbo, ugatuzi or whatever name you give it, was the most contentious topic during the last constitutional conference at Bomas of Kenya.

One year after post-election violence, the political and economic map of Kenya is nothing but a de-facto devolved and federal system of governance in practise.

The quiet devolution of power has been unfolding for several decades due to historical injustices and only after post-election chaos did we see it for what it really is.

Whichever way one looks at it, the true face of governance in the Kenya we have is that of a federal system in thought and action.

Heads in the sand

The only problem is that we are still burying our heads in the sand and ignoring the obvious. We are not brave enough to add the word ‘federal’ at the beginning or end of our country’s name.

The only true symbols of unitarism that remain in Kenya today are the police force, the Armed Forces and the Provincial Administration. These remain so by virtue of having the mandate to guarantee safety wherever they are deployed to work.

And in any case, it was only these three institutions and the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Planning that were to be the symbols of unitarism according to recommendations made by the Bomas conference.

Many appointments and institutions are devolved in nature. It is in order to complain that, this or that region is not represented in certain appointments or that appointments must be for locals because the institution is local.

The centralised Government has long complied with these demands, and some appointees will always be from local clans, regions, jimbos, districts or provinces.

Long gone are the good old days when a ‘kawaida’ Kenyan could be posted to work in remote parts such as Kopiro in Mt Elgon District, Mbala Mbala, Kipini and Kizingititi at the Coast, Sena and Ugina in Mfangano Island, Igembe, Igoji, Maduwa and Rukala in Budalang’i.

Majority of Kenyans now prefer to remain jobless to leaving their ethnic cocoons and work in other regions. And after post-election violence, even fewer people are ready to live, work or do business far from ‘home’.

Bleeding nation

We have a nation that bleeds after every five years because of the General Election and nothing has ever been done about halting this run of impunity.

Religious organisations started to devolve much earlier by insisting only local residents could head local institutions.

Our leaders would do well to recognise the facts and make federalism official without taking us through the usual money-guzzling and blood-letting circles and circuses of referendums.

{S R Athembo Onyuro, Kisumu – A Letter to the Editor)

This piece was written as a letter to the editor