Study exposes negative perceptions between politicians and Kenyans

Speaker of the Senate Ekwee Ethuro (left) and Nominated Senator Beatrice Elachi during a discussion on the devolution report yesterday. [PHOTO: BEVERLYNE MUSILI/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: A national survey on public participation and implementation of devolution has returned a shocking verdict that sets the expectations of citizens and their elected leaders far apart.

The study is likely to raise a storm as it has emerged that elected leaders perceive citizens as too demanding and unreasonable.

Citizens on the other hand see their leaders as greedy, self-centred, uncaring, unavailable and of unapproachable behaviour.

Further, the report exposes the dilemma of political parties in terms of membership and representation as it turned out that parties lack lasting ideals and instead are used as vehicles to ascend to power.

While releasing the findings yesterday, Hekima Centre Executive Director and principal researcher Elias Mokua disclosed the study raised a mixed bag of issues, which was narrowed down to four key areas.

The public and leaders' main concerns included the role of political parties in the political dispensation, clash of expectations between the electorate and their leaders, lack of understanding on the role of county functions and the performance of counties over the last two years.

Surprisingly, according to the study, Kenyans still do not understand the functions and offices of county governments and the impact of devolution to their livelihoods.

Of key interest was the choice of leaders the citizens elect, only to turn and reproach them once in office. "The voters expect their leaders to solve all their problems and be accountable to them. They want transparency and a high level of accountability," said Dr Mokua.

He added: "Our respondents believe their leaders once elected turn out to be greedy, corrupt, inaccessible and interested in amassing wealth and power, while the leaders think the voters have turned them into their cash cows and ATMs who are in a position to solve their problems instantly."

 DEFEND GRAFT

Mokua also noted that a majority of Kenyans do not understand the role of the National Assembly as it is always seen as burdened with the task of defending corruption.

"Kenyans are a worried lot that corruption has been devolved to counties and ethnicity is taking root. Clans are turning against each other. They want the public to embrace national values yet there is still the issue of voter bribery," said Mokua during the launch of the report at Hekima Institute.

He added: "While political parties vary in degrees, the function of a party manifesto in ideals, ethnicity and 'personal cults' in political leadership matters a lot. Mechanisms for relaying feedback to members is still lacking."

The findings come at a time when political parties have begun strategising for 2017.

Senate Speaker Ekwee Ethuro, who was also the chief guest at the event, Catholic Peace and Justice Commission Chairman Bishop Cornelius Korir, senators Hassan Omar (Mombasa), Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni), Beatrice Elachi (Nominated), Abdikadir Aden (Mbalambala), Ann Nyokabi (Kiambu MP) and Ken Okoth (Kibra) said the findings came at an appropriate time.

"We must all work together to make this country better by electing leaders with good qualities. Citizens should evaluate their leaders," said Ethuro.