There’s a plot afoot to strangle devolution

The Jubilee celebrations ought to have been planned and managed in each of the 47 counties in a manner befitting a nation that has supported the lives and aspirations of its people.

If the Kenya nation could speak for itself, it would recount how the people it has hosted have failed it.

It would speak of unfulfilled promises, corruption scandals, torture chambers, totalitarian rule, under-development, class inequality, tribal politics, nepotism, insincerity, poverty, and political assassinations.

It would not forget land-grabbing, land clashes, rigged elections, the destruction of political systems for parochial reasons, money laundering, capital flight, drug trafficking, poaching, oppression of the poor, and the crushing of the aspirations of many.

Yes, Kenya would also speak of good things. The pictorial presentations of Kenya then and Kenya now done by media houses on the eve of the Kenya @50 celebrations, clearly show that significant socio-economic development has been achieved. But at what cost?

The country could speak of reduced mortality rates, improved healthcare, increased human capacity, higher education standards, and improvement in physical and economic infrastructure, among many others.

Some of the ills the nation would speak about would be a direct result of the systems of government, especially the centralised system.

Kenyans fought for their rights for years. The result was the birth of a new Constitution anchored on devolution.

After independence in 1963, a system of governance known as Majimbo was killed by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta through unwarranted constitutional amendments.

But 50 years after independence, the scenario seems to be re-enacting itself under President Kenyatta.

Revenue Allocation Bill

There are many indications that the 2010 Constitution is not secure after all, and the road to devolution is becoming slippery as the days go by.

Many of these snares come in the form of Bills that clearly undermine the tenets of the Constitution itself, and which are played on the political arena by chest-thumping legislators acting at the behest of the Executive.

The President’s assent to the Revenue Allocation Bill in June started the spin, then it was followed by many events and Bills including, but not limited to, the wrangles between the Senate and the National Assembly, the tabling of the County Management Board Bill in the Senate, and then the apparent rejection of Chapter 12 section 2 of the Constitution on the disbursement of the Equalisation Fund to marginalised counties.

The strike by health workers is yet another attempt to discredit counties as untrustworthy, with the aim of seeking a referendum to render them irrelevant.

The President should have come out guns blazing by now to bring sanity to our medical personnel, who are using mass action to challenge a constitutional provision that was overwhelmingly endorsed by Kenyans. Instead, the government is asking the counties to negotiate with the strikers!

To me, the National Government has not overcome the mentality of centralisation of services, an indicator of its attitude towards devolution.

Mr Lotee is the Deputy Governor, West Pokot County.