By Philip Etale
War of words and bad blood between Parliament and Governors is threatening the real essence of Devolution as enshrined in the Constitution. It must stop.
When Kenyans overwhelmingly voted for the Constitution on August 4th, 2010 and its subsequent promulgation on August 27th, they had in mind devolution as the driving factor.
In respect to devolution which is at the heart of majority of Kenyans, the Constitution is very clear. Devolution will only be autonomous in implementation of distinct functions as listed in the Fourth Schedule (Part 2) of the Constitution.
This is in contrast with the federal system in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between federal government and the states. The Kenyan devolution system still maintains a unitary political concept as a result of distribution of functions between the two levels of government under the Fourth Schedule and also as result of Article 192 which gives the president the power to suspend a county government under certain conditions.
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County Governments are constitutionally and legally operational just like the National Government, the Legislature and the Judiciary. However, it puzzles many when Parliament gangs up to fight County Governments.
The trend is disturbing.
Whereas the legislators would want the public to believe that they have more say on the running of county governments (which is a wrong perception), they also need to know that fighting county establishments is a complete war of devolution. Devolution has to be protected as the Constitution says; The National Government is constitutionally barred from intruding willfully with the county government role and function under the Fourth Schedule.
It is worth noting that since the push and pull game began, the President has not come out to give guidance on the matter.
The president should reign in on Jubilee MPs whose business has become to give governors sleepless nights. The MPs’ core responsibility is to enact laws and not to plot how to oust governors. The president should protect devolution. Henry Ford, an American industrialist once said, “Don’t find fault, find a remedy”. The President must be decisive on this issue of Devolution.
