For all its weaknesses, devolution is keeping the country together

This year’s devolution jamboree is in my adopted County. We yet again get the chance to reflect on the gains and challenges of devolution. The focus will naturally be on Governors showcasing their achievements, many of which will be off plan promises that may never be achieved. Who can forget Machakos City complete with electric trains and a Formula One circuit? Away from those kinds of optical illusions, the Devcon gives us an opportunity to sincerely consider whether we have met citizens’ hopes which they expressed when they enthusiastically passed a Constitution whose greatest promise was devolution.

I remember being in Kehancha in Migori County three months before the 2013 elections. Hope was palpable. Kenyans in such forgotten off-roads believed that finally they would share in Kenya’s oft spoken of national cake. The discussions about the kind of people who deserved the office of Chief Executive of the County were vibrant, well informed and full of optimism. This spirit was replicated in every other place one visited, especially those zones that had felt marginalised since Kenya’s independence. Six years later, I sense that the initial hope has ebbed. In its place one finds Orwellian hard-nosed realism or just dismay.