MCA trips are vital for good governance

What you need to know:

  • On the other hand, a poorly prepared county assembly may spend most of its precious time blocking progressive legislation when performing their authorisation and appropriation responsibilities.
  • Critics of county performance speak condescendingly, portraying rural-based officials as naïve and incompetent, hence the decision that senators should micromanage county development meetings. What a shame!

Students of social sciences agree that comparison of systems is one of the most effective ways by which two different organisations can learn from each other.

Consequently, when Kenya adopted a devolved system of government, officials in decision-making positions sought to learn how similar institutions operated elsewhere.

While holders of national government offices benefited from an experienced, disciplined civil service and statutory bodies, counties had to initiate new structures in the form of assemblies, executive positions, and public service.

Many counties did not inherit institutional memory, offices, infrastructure, or staff of the defunct local government. Consequently, before initiating development plans and strategies, MCAs, governors, and executive members needed a role model to appreciate fully the philosophy, structure, and working of a county government.

Counties are complete systems unto themselves consisting of a legislature, an executive arm, and a fully-fledged public service geared towards service provision.

Hence, without full understanding of their enormous responsibilities, county leadership may commit billions of shillings to white elephant projects of little or no value to the people.

On the other hand, a poorly prepared county assembly may spend most of its precious time blocking progressive legislation when performing their authorisation and appropriation responsibilities.

No wonder some county assemblies are engrossed in unnecessary investigative hearings and intrigues calculated to impeach a speaker, governor, or county executive member.

INSENSITIVE DECISIONS

It appears that counties are under malicious baseless political attack and require our collective protection. The Constitution created the Senate to support and protect county interests.

However, lacking a secretariat or research institute, the Senate is gradually making insensitive decisions that are increasingly injurious to its working relations with county governments.

Critics of county performance speak condescendingly, portraying rural-based officials as naïve and incompetent, hence the decision that senators should micromanage county development meetings. What a shame!

Initially, critics accused counties of spending a large portion of allocated funds on the purchase of motor vehicles, trips abroad, and numerous aimless workshops, meetings, and conferences in local luxurious hotels and resorts.

County officials believe that the objective of this assault is to generate sufficient adverse publicity to justify a proposal for dissolution of county governments through a national referendum.

Counties vary in climate, resources, and character. Those in semi-arid regions may dispatch MCAs to acquaint themselves with best practices in water management, agriculture, and housing designs in Israel. Similarly, lakeside and coastal counties may want to adopt improved fishing skills from Britain and the Netherlands.

Prescribing from Nairobi how best county decision-makers should conduct business is intrusive, arrogant, abusive, and suggestive of ignorance of the doctrines of good governance built into the Constitution.

Mr Osoro is director of communications, Nyamira County. [email protected]