D E V O L U T I O N
W A T C H
Why Counties have to fix runaway poverty and unemployment
By Zacharia Chiliswa
T
he hopes Kenyans might have had in devolution appear to be quickly being sunk.
Sections 87 and 91 presuppose a civic culture disposed to actively participate and trusting of the public structures. The clamouring for higher perks by the political leadership is indicative of a prevailing political culture of survival and exploitation. If ours is a predatory culture, how then will counties help solve the endemic problem of poverty and unemployment? County budgeting is the single most important governance process available to the counties to transform the lives of people. Now, if counties do not value meaningful citizen participation, to who shall their development plans belong.
transfer of power in 2002, 2005 and 2010 constitution referendum and 2013 hotly contested General Elections, the public intolerance towards those with divergent views was overt. And it still persists in most of the public discourses. Critical to the vibrancy of county governments is a participative civic culture. County leadership need to revolutionise the civic culture of county residents to take active role in governance processes. Firstly, because across many counties there exist some threats of polarised relations among and between communities. It is inevitable for county political leaders to invest in reconstructing social trust among residents. The civic culture of social mistrust inevitably makes devolution vulnerable to predatory clientelistic political relations.
The priorities of the five months old county governments it seems are either in the wrong hands or misplaced. Like their counterparts at the National Assembly, Members of County Assemblies agitated for higher perks, maligned the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and some even threatened to boycott sessions. Most county budgets have allocated huge sums to what many consider luxurious items resulting in public outrage across many counties. It appears that Sections 87 and 91 of The County Government Act, 2012, stand undermined. This brings under spotlight the effectiveness or relevance of citizen participation mechanisms such as town hall meetings and budget preparation and validation fora. Are the county citizens able to meaningfully take part in such fora? Are our political culture and values compatible and supportive of such arrangements?
Participative culture
Kenya is still emerging from the devastating effects of autocratic regime. The generation that underwent this atrocious repression is yet to overcome the effects of institutionalised state violence, tribalism and human rights abuse. Attitudes of authoritarianism are still prevalent hence not conducive for a participatory culture. As a result, the Kenyan nation still suffers from widespread lack of respect for unpopular or dissenting worldviews. If you may recall incidences such as the
Hierarchy of Values
The value hierarchy of our political leadership appears to be suffused with insatiable amassing of wealth. The survivalist values exhibited by our political leadership create in people attitudes supportive to corruption and self-serving pursuits. How then could counties encourage the citizenry to value engaged civic culture in their areas of jurisdiction?
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THE SEED - VOL 25, No. 8 AUGUST 2013