National, county governments are guilty of wasteful spending

By Kamotho Waiganjo

Like the typical Kenyan political melodrama, the romance between the voter and his Governor is ending rather fast. When we went round the counties last year collecting views on the appropriate accountability structures for the county governments, many citizens were willing to write their Governor an open cheque on all matters of governance. Unlike the hated central government, the incoming county government was going to be a truly altruistic, people centered, development focused administration. Anyone who suggested checks and balances on the Governors’ exercise of power was termed an “enemy of devolution”, a term liberally thrown in Kenya to silence dissenting views on devolution.