County appointments ill-timed, ill advised

By Stanley Githunguri

It was President Ronald Reagan who said, “an irresponsible Government is like a baby, an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other”.

Like many other Kenyans who care about this country, I have been deeply concerned with the recent appointments of county commissioners. It is not that I do not support devolution of State authority.

But it is because I am a strong believer of the rule of law and the concept of putting the cart after the horse.

The structures upon which the new appointments were to be set are yet to be set up.

County headquarters have yet to be set up, from where will these commissioners be expected to do their jobs? The law that was supposed to create their offices is still under consideration by Parliament!

We are reminded that the President refused to assent to it and returned it to Parliament. What if Parliament creates different structures in the new law? We know that the Government may have been looking for a soft landing for the Provincial Administration — but this one may turn out to be an extremely hard landing for them.

Barely 21 months ago, Kenyans celebrated the birth of a new order of running the affairs of the State. Today, it is clear that not everybody was happy, at least not everyone who sat on that podium at Uhuru Park! What we celebrated was not the papers that were held high on that day. It was not the raising of the national flag, or the attendance by the many foreign and local dignitaries. We celebrated the end of impunity and rebirth of a renewed hope in transparency and upholding the rule of law.

The new appointments are not only a flagrant disregard of the Constitution, but also an abuse of State authority. Who vetted these people — we are not indicating that they are imperfect in any way. But equally, we are also not sure of their imperfections! We have tried to clean all other sectors of the State organs.

Kenyans have expressed hope in the State when their public officers are vetted in public glare and their appointments subjected to rigorous check. This is a great step towards realising the new dawn.

But surely, what sense does it make to brush your teeth with the best toothpaste and rinse you mouth in industrial waste! It is a zero sum game! If one part of the State organs will be perfect, but the other flawed, then the whole lot becomes defective!

I feel for our youth and women who continue be ignored in every other appointment. In the case of the county commissioners, the youth is conspicuously left out. Maybe one can argue that they needed some experienced lot, but what lie do we tell to our women? That they did not qualify?

That they had no experience? Did we not pass a requirement under Article 27 (8) that not more than two-thirds of the appointments made were to be of persons of the same gender? This is what we celebrated. Now, the action of the State can only be construed to mean that it has no regard for the women it prides in promoting. Period!

What of regional balance? There is every indication that regional and ethnic balance was not achieved in making the appointments.

surprise move

I have every reason to believe the president is being misled by the same people we have entrusted to advice him. His actions took many by surprise, including part of his government. There is a feeling that the Cabinet is not pulling in the same direction on many issues — but on this one, the division is clear.

His legal minds have attempted to say that he based his actions on the transitional clauses in the Constitution. However, with the transitional clauses, the main purpose was to close gaps that may be found while the old Constitution is being phased out and the new one is being implemented!

Another part has talked about “there being or not being the requisite consultations”. While this angle of the question of the process of the appointments is equally crucial, the most important questions for the nwananchi are one, were the appointments the best thing for Kenya at this time?

And secondly, why did the State decide to rush? What is it that they know that Kenyans also need to know about the coming elections?

Kenyans have joined hands with colleagues saying that rather than opening up new frontiers to war against unity, the president should use his office to unite Kenya.

The appointments were ill-timed, ill-advised and we can ill-afford them. Just the other day, the Government was indicating that they are very broke — how then will they afford this new administrative absurdity? We are now told “the county commissioners shall be responsible in co-ordinating security management, national Government functions and delivery of services, facilitate conflict management and peace-building, mobilise national government agencies for national events and programmes”.

How do these functions accord with devolution under the new Constitution. Clearly, some part of the Government is still living in the past! Who will save Kenya? The writer is the Member of Parliament for Kiambaa Constituency.

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