President Uhuru must keep his word on devolution

By Philip Etale

No one can purport to deny the governors their constitutional right, otherwise, the spirit of Devolution as stated in the Constitution would be dead

Mr President Uhuru Kenyatta, first, may I congratulate you for taking the oath of office to serve as Kenya’s fourth President.

Secondly, I know you have inherited a heavy burden of uniting Kenya and de-tribalising our way of thinking. Kenya is a polarised state that needs hands-on leadership.

Mr President, in your inaugural speech as the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, you said: “My Government will immediately begin supporting devolution and enabling county leadership to carry out their constitutional mandate and fulfill the pledges they made to the Kenyan people. Let us all be clear – supporting devolution is not a choice, as some claim it to be – it is a duty; a constitutional duty.  One that I have sworn to uphold. Our Constitution does not suggest devolution, it demands it. I urge all Kenyans to be persistent, pragmatic, patient and non-partisan, as we pursue the promise of devolved governance”.

I don’t want to suggest that what the ODM Party leader Raila Odinga prompted you and the entire CORD leadership had been agitating for. Neither do I want to believe that your statement on devolution was a result of the revolt by governors during their retreat in Naivasha last week, where they threatened to defy everyone to ensure they have their democratic right to govern at the county level.

It is my conviction that your strong statement on devolution came from deep in your heart and that you were not just playing to the galleries. Mr President, in the evening of his leadership, just last week, your predecessor Mwai Kibaki almost hit the roof, asserting that Kenya was a single ‘unitary state’.  He intimidated the governors by telling  them to be prepared to work  ‘under’ some people seconded to the counties by the Central government. In the Constitution, Article 179 of Chapter 11 on Devolution is very clear on whose hands the executive authority of the county is vested. This authority will be exercised by the County Executive Committee, headed by the Governor (elected by the people) and his/her deputy. This, therefore, makes the governor the authority in the county.

I’m pretty sure if the Constitution put some people above the governor very few politicians and individuals would have forfeited their previous positions to vie for the gubernatorial jobs. Many, including MPs, Cabinet ministers and CEOs, quit their jobs to become first governors, knowing what their mandate was.

No one can purport to deny the governors their constitutional right, otherwise, the spirit of Devolution as stated in Chapter 11 of the Constitution would be dead.

If President Uhuru meant his word before the more than 60,000 people and to the millions of others following the proceedings on television and online, then he must not allow forces from the previous regime to put him on collision course with Kenyans. He must prove to Kenyans that he really wants devolution to remain as it is in the Constitution.  By so doing, the President must first remove all the County Commissioners from the 47 counties, as they are there against the law.

He must also urgently summon the annual Summit (a meeting of the President with governors) as provided for in the Constitution and assure them that they are the final authority at the county level and that they will not share power with any other person selected or appointed and posted to their counties. I know there are forces that misled former President Kibaki  to fire a salvo at the governors in Naivasha. The same forces might want to continue misleading the new dispensation. But Mr Kenyatta should know that a good leader is he who listens to the masses and not just a few individuals. American businessman Max De Preee once said: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” President Uhuru must not fail Kenyans on his promise to uphold devolution as is in the laws, which he swore to protect.

 Mr President, if you kill Devolution, you will not only have killed the Senate but also the Spirit and the Letter of the Constitution and Kenyans. The governor must be allowed to govern the county government without interference from any quarters. The Central Government must support the county governments without fear of being outshone.

The 15 per cent of the national budget set aside for the operation of the counties should not make anyone mislead the President that the Central government is giving too much.

The writer is the ODM Director of Communications