Makueni is a reflection of the state of dysfunction in many of our counties

The suggestion by the so-called Council of Governors for the dissolution of the Makueni County government is the most sensible thing to have come from that body, not forgetting that many of this Council’s members can’t stand up for scrutiny either.

Subsequent to the alarming shootings at the Makueni County premises on Tuesday, I watched four of the county’s honchos being interviewed on TV evening news bulletins and was, truth be told, thoroughly entertained.

So this is what we got ourselves into in the mish-mash called devolved government?

Parading on NTV, on opposing sides, were deputy Governor Adelina Mwau and Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior.

On Citizen TV was Governor Kivutha Kibwana being battled by an excitable Kisoi Munyao, the MP for Mbooni.

The first pair was the more dramatic. I would be doing extreme violence to the word debate to describe the encounter as such.

Ms Mwau kept shrieking her indignation like a market woman as Kilonzo Jnr — an India-trained lawyer who described himself as “schooled” — lolled on his seat exuding the air of a spoilt brat.

Both were, frankly, unpleasant to watch.

LOST CONTROL OF THE COUNTY

The other pair on Citizen TV was hardly a better sight. The less said about the shrill and incoherent Kisoi, the better.

Yet it was the governor who came out looking quite pathetic. Professor Kibwana is a distinguished constitutional scholar.

His elected opponents are blaming him for the bloody fracas in Makueni. All he could manage by way of explanation was to come up with conspiracy theories about URP and assassination plots.

It was clear to every viewer the professor lacks the mettle to handle the untidy politics of a county government.

What came across was a governor who has lost control of his county completely. He should go back to the university to teach.

I have picked on Makueni not because its scandalous politics is unique. It is only a reflection of the state of dysfunction in most other counties.

Indeed, on the same day we saw the violence in Nandi County sparked by the referendum campaigns.

With all these manifestations of county madness, one must be out of their minds to conclude the solution is more money and not sanity in devolved government.

First of all, I don’t understand why Makueni MCAs and MPs thought it best to go all the way to a Mombasa hotel to deliberate on their ruptured relations with the governor.

Also I can’t quite figure out why the professor would want to mobilise a mob to storm a meeting of county officials where he was expressly excluded.

Heck, I don’t even understand why the governor was being shut out if the meetings — as claimed by the senator — were to discuss reconciliation between him and the MCAs.

Or was it because Ms Mwau was likely to shriek too loudly?

LESSONS FOR MCAS

It’s impossible to make sense anymore about the running of county governments.

Rather than throwing money on foreign travel and those comfy retreats to Mombasa, the counties should first invest in serious civics and decorum lessons for MCAs.

As for governors and county executive officers, what they all badly need are courses in financial management and accountability.

This must be made a priority by whoever oversights them.

The titbits I could glean from the Makueni TV “debates” were stuff like Sh30 million was allocated for planting non-existent tree seedlings; that MCAs were demanding Sh900 million-plus for use by the County Assembly yet the national Controller of Budget had put a ceiling on such expenditure at Sh356 million; and that Sh1.3 billion for development had not been accounted for.

In the last financial year, county governments spent a total of Sh169.4 billion.

Out of this only Sh36.6 billion was used for development, according to the Controller of Budget. Now these same cesspits of corruption are demanding more cash from the Treasury.

Afrosinema continues.

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The MCAs’ latest demand is for guns and bodyguards. I say let them have the firearms. They will do us all a favour when they shoot themselves out of existence. They are worse than Ebola.

[email protected] Twitter: @GitauWarigi