It
speaks to our foibles that some candidates for the office of county
governor are unhappy with the interim officials appointed by the
Transitional Authority. They demand that the process be reviewed and
their "input" be taken into consideration. They claim that there is
likely to be discord in the county government because they do not know
under what terms or conditions these officers have been hired, or what
their mandates will be once the county governments come to life on March
Fifth.
These candidates must surely take their cue from the Grand Coalition Government, in which President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga "shared" power and each "appointed" half the Cabinet and half the Permanent Secretaries to "represent the interests of their parties", PNU and ODM. It may have been the logical choice to share power by sharing out positions in the Cabinet; it was illogical and downright stupid to share out what amount to civil service jobs among the President's and Prime Minister's cronies and confidants. The Cabinet, despite being a constitutional institution, is really a political one and the choice of Ministers is a political choice. But the office of Permanent Secretary should not be a political one; its principle role is to turn policy into programmes for the well-being of the nation, not the interests of a political party. This cancer, it seems, is being exported to the counties and it will have deleterious effects on the governance of Kenya's brand-new counties.
The intervention by gubernatorial candidates in the appointment of public officers is unconstitutional. The Constitution esteems diversity over localism, and counts on merit as the bedrock of an effective delivery of public services and goods to the long-suffering peoples of Kenya. These principles should not be undermined by the harebrained ideas birthed by the odious Coalition Government formed in 2008. Indeed, the record of the coalition in delivering effective and efficient services to the peoples of Kenya is marked by disappointment, discord and acrimony the likes of which were last witnessed during the crisis of 2007 and 2008. Kenyans simply cannot allow governors to tread the same waters the President and Prime Minister have over the past 5 years.
No county in Kenya is entirely made up of one ethnic group; most are cosmopolitan to various degrees. Nairobi is the most cosmopolitan in Kenya and this explains why Dr Evans Kidero, Jimnah Mbaru and Ferdinand Waititu have not weighed in on the public officers appointed by the Transitional Authority. Even the ethnic strongholds of Central Kenya or the North Rift are not solely composed of Kikuyus or Kalenjins; members of other communities live and play a role in the development of these counties. For example, members of the Kenyan Asian community are to be found practically in every county in Kenya. Are they to be locked out of the management of the affairs of these counties simply because as a percentage of the total national population they amount to no more than 4 to 5%? Or take Kenyan Somalis. They are an up-and-coming community that has been traditionally confined to the undeveloped swathes of Kenya's erstwhile Northern Frontier Province. They have managed to thrive despite the odds stacked against them and are to be found in many counties in Kenya running trucking companies and other vibrant business ventures. Many Kenyans of different ethnicities have had opportunity to grace the various "Garissa Lodges" operated by the members of the Kenyan Somali community. It would be grossly unfair if they too were to be locked out from the county public services in counties where they are not politically dominant simply because of their relatively small population relative to their hosts.
Devolution is meant to be a panacea for the official neglect by the national government, especially of areas that have been allowed to atrophy simply because the powers-that-be in Nairobi consider them to be of no great significance. But the management of neglected counties cannot succeed unless all the communities in those counties feel that they have a say in how their affairs are managed. The seeds of insurgency are usually planted when a group feels marginalised and persecuted. The gubernatorial candidates who cannot grasp this basic fact are best advised to look for jobs in the GEMAs and KAMATUSAs of the future, not as governors of counties.
These candidates must surely take their cue from the Grand Coalition Government, in which President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga "shared" power and each "appointed" half the Cabinet and half the Permanent Secretaries to "represent the interests of their parties", PNU and ODM. It may have been the logical choice to share power by sharing out positions in the Cabinet; it was illogical and downright stupid to share out what amount to civil service jobs among the President's and Prime Minister's cronies and confidants. The Cabinet, despite being a constitutional institution, is really a political one and the choice of Ministers is a political choice. But the office of Permanent Secretary should not be a political one; its principle role is to turn policy into programmes for the well-being of the nation, not the interests of a political party. This cancer, it seems, is being exported to the counties and it will have deleterious effects on the governance of Kenya's brand-new counties.
The intervention by gubernatorial candidates in the appointment of public officers is unconstitutional. The Constitution esteems diversity over localism, and counts on merit as the bedrock of an effective delivery of public services and goods to the long-suffering peoples of Kenya. These principles should not be undermined by the harebrained ideas birthed by the odious Coalition Government formed in 2008. Indeed, the record of the coalition in delivering effective and efficient services to the peoples of Kenya is marked by disappointment, discord and acrimony the likes of which were last witnessed during the crisis of 2007 and 2008. Kenyans simply cannot allow governors to tread the same waters the President and Prime Minister have over the past 5 years.
No county in Kenya is entirely made up of one ethnic group; most are cosmopolitan to various degrees. Nairobi is the most cosmopolitan in Kenya and this explains why Dr Evans Kidero, Jimnah Mbaru and Ferdinand Waititu have not weighed in on the public officers appointed by the Transitional Authority. Even the ethnic strongholds of Central Kenya or the North Rift are not solely composed of Kikuyus or Kalenjins; members of other communities live and play a role in the development of these counties. For example, members of the Kenyan Asian community are to be found practically in every county in Kenya. Are they to be locked out of the management of the affairs of these counties simply because as a percentage of the total national population they amount to no more than 4 to 5%? Or take Kenyan Somalis. They are an up-and-coming community that has been traditionally confined to the undeveloped swathes of Kenya's erstwhile Northern Frontier Province. They have managed to thrive despite the odds stacked against them and are to be found in many counties in Kenya running trucking companies and other vibrant business ventures. Many Kenyans of different ethnicities have had opportunity to grace the various "Garissa Lodges" operated by the members of the Kenyan Somali community. It would be grossly unfair if they too were to be locked out from the county public services in counties where they are not politically dominant simply because of their relatively small population relative to their hosts.
Devolution is meant to be a panacea for the official neglect by the national government, especially of areas that have been allowed to atrophy simply because the powers-that-be in Nairobi consider them to be of no great significance. But the management of neglected counties cannot succeed unless all the communities in those counties feel that they have a say in how their affairs are managed. The seeds of insurgency are usually planted when a group feels marginalised and persecuted. The gubernatorial candidates who cannot grasp this basic fact are best advised to look for jobs in the GEMAs and KAMATUSAs of the future, not as governors of counties.
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