Thieving governors making a mockery of struggle for second liberation

One-time Immigration Minister and first post- 2010 Constitution Homa Bay Senator Gerald Otieno Kajwang’ had a way with words that however one disliked him for a reason or another, they will almost get tickled whenever he took to the podium.

The former Mbita MP would tackle his political enemies in a way even the targets would be left laughing. But the message would get home anyway.

He, for instance, coined and popularised the now famous bado mapambano song that has become the anthem for those seeking change.

I remembered the mercurial man, who passed away in November 2014, when I came across an opinion piece written by British High Commissioner Nic Hailey in one of the dailies advocating for the focus on the fight against corruption to be shifted to the counties.

Kajwang was a sworn advocate for devolution and I am sure he would be very angry with the way governors are managing the resources of the counties had death not grabbed him away just a year into the first post devolution Parliamentary term.

In one of the public addresses before the country accepted and adopted devolution in the form of a new constitution, the trained lawyer and politician sought and used so many words in seeking its support. Maybe just to help his audience understand what the concept of devolution is all about and how important it is that the country adopts it, the seriously comical Kajwang used phrases such the need to diffuse power, scatter power, disperse power, decentralise power, distribute power, share power and other related words. That is just how serious advocates of devolution were.

In fact, it can be argued that the whole campaign to rewrite the new constitution was mainly motivated by the country’s desire to devolve resources and power.

And that explains the anger, albeit muffled, that greets the current plunder of resources by those trusted upon to manage counties in this country. And it cuts across all the 47 units.

There is virtually none of the 47 governors who can lay claim to cleanliness in the way they have spent the billions of shillings given to them for the wellbeing of their subjects.

The sad thing is that even those caught with their hands in the cookie jar are still stealing and eating with the protection of the courts!
So reading Mr Hailey’s piece, one feels a bit disappointed that even visitors can see clearly that we are being robbed by our own people who we thought would help us “disperse power.”

Though it sounds reassuring that the envoy grants the UK’s support for “devolution initiatives that advance human rights, gender equality, and public participation in decision-making, and opportunities for youth and for people with disabilities,” he also reminds us it is unbelievable that our leaders keep holding onto offices even after being publicly indicted for corruption!

Leadership is a sacred trust, conferred by the people on those who govern them; and an honour for those elected to serve.

“But it does not bring honour on an office when a leader goes to court seeking pre-emptively to block a corruption investigation. Or when a leader arrested and bailed for serious crimes stays in his office, rather than stepping aside .The presumption of innocence is vital. But no investigation can be fairly or thoroughly conducted if leaders stay in place, with the potential to hamper investigators or instruct their subordinates not to cooperate,” Nic argues. Enough said!

My question, however, is does anyone, leave alone those purporting to be leaders, need to be reminded of the fact of life?

But Hailey, maybe knowing our governors’ difficulties in comprehending the most basic tenets of what created their offices, offers some definition to what devolution is.

“Devolution for the people means using the power of government to create opportunity,” he says. Our governors, instead, only see opportunity for themselves and their families to make money. That is why their association’s leader wants honourable treatment for those among them fingered for paying kickbacks to their wives’ and daughters’ firms for doing nothing!

Looking at the devolution management at the moment, one might wonder if this is what was envisaged by the champions of the second liberation. Or, to quote Francis Imbuga, it was better while we waited.

To the optimists, though, to save the counties and country from imminent devouring by the corrupt governors we might consider singing along with Mr Kajwang:….musilale bado mapambano!