Devolution started on the wrong footing

In the architecture of the 2010 Constitution, one of the most important reforms ushered was devolution, which created 47 counties.

The Transition to Devolved Government Act was the enabling legislation for seamless implementation of devolution by the Transition Authority with the mandate to be discharged in two phases — from September 2012 to March 2013 (Phase 1) and March 2013 to 2016 (Phase 2).

The Transition Authority, made up of nine independent members supported by six principal secretaries and the Attorney General, undertook to rationalise the staff of the then local authorities and national government.

They were also to delineate assets and liabilities between the national and the county governments. These, among other 15 key functions, were demanding challenges.

The team was fortunate to have as its chairman, Mr Kinuthia wa Mwangi, a lawyer with deep understanding of local authorities.

Nevertheless, they faced two main overbearing obstacles: time constraint and limited financial resources.

The Transition Authority had to contend with these intractable obstacles besides traversing the country, and setting up facilities for the 47 counties that were about to start operating.

The team was expected to undertake in four years what ought to have taken 10 years to fully accomplish, according to the chairman.

He regrets that despite the capabilities of his authority, time and financial resources allocated undercut their strategy to deliver on the mandate and historical milestone.

Mr wa Mwangi contends that an important function like determination of national assets was not done, which left a void that may have facilitated fraudulent acquisition of assets by private entities.

To remedy the anomaly, he recommends a national asset authority to carry out the unfinished exercise.

The haphazard implementation of devolution is the elephant in the room, and the Transition Authority was supposed to address some of the issues.

These include absorbing the staff of local authorities under the new dispensation former local authority workers.

However, the incoming governors insisted on employing their cronies as political payback for the support given during campaigns.

This has pitted some governors against the public service boards, the legal bodies responsible for employment of county staff.

The consequence was greater expenditure on salaries and other benefits vis-à-vis revenue marked for development and essential services. The overarching result is increasing debt in most counties.

Can Kenyans remain on this pathway indefinitely? Certainly not. If we aspire for meaningful development, the key imperatives include efficient and effective functioning of devolution, which touches the majority population at the grassroots.

However, for this to happen, public participation must not be a public relations exercise but a serious and entrenched culture of true consultation through a legal and structured institutional framework.

This should be informed by robust public participation underpinned by law.

Another legal instrument needed is for the Senate to pass a law for presentation of budgets by all County Executive Committee members responsible for finance at the county assemblies on the same day across the country.