Devolution can only work with committed leadership

FROM LEFT: Governors Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos), Ann Waiguru (Kirinyaga), Susan Kihika (Nakuru), Fatuma Achani (Kwale), Cecily Mbarire (Embu) and Gladys Wanga (Homabay) during the G-7 women empowerment forum at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos town on August 16, 2024 [John Muia, Standard]

I was in Murang’a County the other day where I saw the fruits of devolution firsthand. Quite a good number of roads deep in some God-forsaken villages were paved, had pedestrians’ paths and even working streetlights.

There is a certain vibrancy that you feel when you drive in and around the county. I was disabused of the notion that devolution doesn’t work when I saw and felt what was happening on the ground.

I have always thought devolution was nothing more than decentralised theft; that when we opted for devolution in the new constitution, what we actually devolved was corruption rather than resources. At least, this has been the situation in many counties that have remained grossly underdeveloped despite the billions poured into these counties by the central government in addition to what they raise at the local level.

In most counties, the governors and their acolytes see their county as a pot where they can dip their dirty hands at any opportunity. In most instances, this is what has happened. But there are a few exceptions here and there – Murang’a, Makueni, Kitui and Kisumu are the few examples that come to mind.

In Murang’a, I saw firsthand what funds at the local level can do: apart from the roads, the health system – the so-called Kang’ata care—seems to be working based on what I heard on the ground.

In Kisumu, Governor Anyang Nyong’o has transformed one of the oldest towns into a city that is envy of many. When I was there last, the streets were spotless clean and the city has become a popular destination for local tourists and conferences.

In Kitui, Governor Julius Malombe has opened up the county through a vast road network, embedded maternal care in his county strategy and dug numerous boreholes and water pans in the water-starved county. These are the things that matter most for the constituents.

In Makueni, we saw what the immediate past Governor Kivutha Kibwana did for his county in terms of healthcare, horticulture and food processing.

I have used these four examples not to exclude others that might also doing some good work but as an example of what good governance can achieve on the ground.

I recently visited a village that I grew up in on the slopes of Nyandarwa hills (christened Aberdares by the colonialists) that I hadn’t been back to in decades, and I found what must have been a dream come true for many: the sleepy village had actually joined the rest of the world in the twenty-first century by being connected to the grid. There were streetlights for heaven’s sake! This could only have been possible courtesy of devolution.

This is the kind of leadership that we must aim for, both at the county and national levels, where the good of the people overrides that of a few greedy thieves.

Unfortunately, in many of the other counties – which shall remain un-named for now – their idea of tackling poverty in their respective counties is to tackle it at their family level. They form companies in various family names and their acolytes so that they can milk every penny that comes into the county kitty.

We have heard of governors taking large sums of money in gunny bags to some foreign countries, while their constituents are dying of preventable diseases.

I always picture in my mind these crooks wearing hoods for disguise, tip toeing in the dead of night, looking this and that way, sneaking off with the county’s collections.

Once again, I always ask myself, when will public service ever live up to its name? When will the people seeking public office do so through a sense of duty rather than self-enrichment?

And most importantly, when will the electorate start using their vote wisely and not be swayed by small bribes, ending up with hoodlums for leaders?

When will we will elect people based on their character rather than the amount of money in their bank accounts? That will be the day when we will say we have matured as a country.