Great work, but wanton spending shows double-edged sword of county bounty

Kisumu will probably remember more the weighty worthies lending authority and colour to the already bustling city than the fact that the three-day general audit on devolution that happened in the fun-loving lakeside metropolis returned a verdict of between good and very good. Never mind that the main examiners in this exercise were the candidates themselves!

Few dispute that the Sh484 billion doled out to the counties in the past two years, though controversy-ridden, has had an infinitely more palpable impact than the equally controversial Constituency Development Fund that in 10 years, transferred Sh130 billion to the constituencies.

Kisii, Meru, Isiolo, Wajir, Bomet, West Pokot, Bungoma, Uasin Gishu, and Murang’a pop up as counties that have done noticeable work in areas such as agriculture, conservation and environment, education, public works, health, creating employment and managing public funds.

Significant too, as shown in an Infotrak survey reported in this newspaper today, is the fact that this is feedback from the public, not from self-gratuitous representations from county sympathisers.

Could more have been done? Yes. The Office of the Controller of Budget, the World Bank, and other trackers of prudence and effectiveness in public expenditure are unanimous that governors have been profligate and wanton in the use of cash.

A World Bank report early in the year was particularly unforgiving in its assessment of the priorities of county governments. It showed that in the majority of counties, less than 20 per cent of the total disbursements went into development.

The rest was spent on salaries, big cars and houses, and local and overseas travel for county officials. While some of this lopsided balance sheets may be explained by factors such as too many employees or a mismatch, for example, between when the World Bank report was issued and when the cash was actually released by the national government, even governors themselves admit that they have very tenuous control over decisions on where money is spent. Members of the country assemblies can brow-beat governors into submitting to ridiculous expenditure commitments lest they be impeached.

INTERCOUNTY TENSIONS

The county bounty has also brought into sharp relief clan and tribal animosities in counties that have dominant/subordinate communities. Mandera, Trans Nzoia, and Lamu are examples. Inter-county tensions over resources are also evident on the borders between Pokot and Turkana, for example.

An equally ominous danger to successful devolution of services and benefits to the counties is the (possibly) intended by-product of insecurity. The whole swathe of counties from West Pokot, Turkana, Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River to Kwale confront the sobering reality that the profiling being directed at some of the non-indigenous communities is discouraging teachers, artisans, medical workers, and holders of other skills from working in those counties, denying them inputs they are in dire need of.

So, herein lies the devolution conundrum: releasing resources to the counties has triggered the positive developmental impulses that have seen vast areas being opened up, public services made available to long-suffering Kenyans, and private sector investments responding to new opportunities everywhere.

However, it has also sharpened the inequity profiles and fed the atavistic, exclusionary instincts among some communities that still believe that there are “pure” geographies and zoned off privileges for some groups. Indeed, the 30 per cent face-of-Kenya employment requirement the Constitution imposes on all counties has been most cursorily ignored.

The solution will evolve over time but it must start with restoration of security and confidence in all Kenyans that they are safe and releasing more resources for counties to unlock dormant economic potential, attract private investments, and create employment.

The quality of MCAs must be improved. The national government must stop being afraid of the county governments. Governors must have more real power to effect change. Denying them power by withholding cash as a containment strategy is self-defeatist if we hope to drive Kenya to real middle income status. It is akin to a fool entering a battle field blindfolded and expecting to win.

The writer is the Nation Media Group’s Acting Editorial Director. ([email protected]; twitter: @tmshindi)