Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga the host of this years devolution conference…Photo/courtesy.
By Peter Marango Mwibanda.
Fourteen years ago, Kenyans voted with hope in their hearts that the 2010 Constitution promised devolution a radical shift of power and resources from Nairobi to the grassroots.
It was meant to be the people’s revolution against a distant unresponsive government.
Today as the country prepares for another Devolution Conference the common mwananchi asks a painful question: Where did our dream go?
Devolution was supposed to bring services closer, give citizens a bigger voice and ensure equitable development instead it has often devolved corruption, nepotism, and political theatrics.
County governments have become new centers of patronage where loyalty to governors trumps service to the people.
In rural wards the complaints are the same; dispensaries without medicine, boreholes broken for months, feeder roads turned into gullies and youth left idle without jobs.
Meanwhile county headquarters boast new offices and convoys of fuel-guzzling SUVs ferry officials on endless “benchmarking trips.”
The tragedy is not that devolution failed but that leaders have hijacked it.
The Constitution gave counties money and autonomy but accountability lags behind.
County Assemblies meant to act as watchdogs often become lapdogs approving inflated budgets and dubious projects without question.
The upcoming conference risks becoming another self-congratulatory parade of politicians with speeches, banquets and photo ops but the soul of devolution is not in conferences.
It lies in whether Mama Akinyi in Homa Bay can get medicine for her sick child without traveling 50 kilometers or whether Musa the farmer in Kitui can access water to irrigate his crops.
If leaders want to save devolution they must:
Tie funding to measurable service delivery.
No county should get increased allocations without proving impact on health, education, infrastructure and livelihoods.
Empower citizens to monitor spending.
Public participation must be real, not just a checkbox exercise.
Enforce anti-corruption measures at the county level including prosecutions, asset recovery and lifetime bans from public office for offenders.
The Constitution gave us a blueprint for a more equal Kenya but unless leaders reclaim devolution’s spirit from greed the mwananchi will remain sidelined wondering if the Kenya they dreamed of in 2010 was just an illusion.
The time for excuses is over. The time to make devolution work is now or history will judge us harshly.
Ends.
