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NAIROBI, 25 March 2013 (IRIN) - Whatever the outcome of Kenya's
disputed presidential race, this month's elections have delivered a
mighty boost to the process of decentralizing power from Nairobi, an
act designed to improve local governance and to reduce marginalization
and the risk of conflict between communities.
With devolution, as the process is called, Kenya embarks on the most
ambitious and rapid transformation of its government since independence.
"Devolution gears to bring services, resources and power closer to the
people. And this power means that citizens will be able to make
decisions about aspects and issues affecting them directly," said Elias
Wakhisi, a programme officer at The Institute for Social Accountability
(TISA).
This briefing provides an overview of these ambitions, the risks
involved, the progress made and the steps ahead. (Many of these themes
are also explored in a recent IRIN film, Power to the People
<http://www.irinnews.org/Kenya2013/themes.html> , part of the No
Ordinary Elections <http://www.irinnews.org/Kenya2013/index.html>
series).
Why devolve?
Except for a few years after independence from Britain in 1963, Kenya
has, since the colonial era, been a highly centralized state, with
considerable executive power concentrated in the capital. The Office of
the President is the apex of a hierarchical system of governance known
as the provincial administration, which encompasses a vast array of
officials, from thousands of chiefs through eight provincial
commissioners.
It is a system that leaves most citizens with no say over issues of
local importance. Although city and district councils exist across the
country, their power and resources are often negligible.
With little money flowing to outer provinces for economic development,
millions have migrated to Nairobi in search of work; the capital hosts
a range of booming industries while rural areas - especially in
far-flung arid regions - have mostly languished.
According to a Society for International Development (SID) report
<http://www.sidint.net/docs/pullingapart-mini.pdf> , Kenya is one of
the most unequal societies in the world. The remote northeastern
Mandera County has the poorest access to services. There, the number of
public hospital beds per resident is a tenth of the figure in
better-off areas, such as the Central Highlands, according to a 2011
World Bank report
<http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRICA/Resources/257994-133547195
9878/KEU-Dec_2011_Momentous_Devolution.pdf> .
In Wajir, also in the northeast, 79 percent of children are at risk of
chronic malnutrition, compared to 16 percent in the coastal Mombasa
County.
"I think [devolution under] the new constitution is good because it
brings many things closer. So now [services] are within reach, unlike
under the old one, when you could die waiting for Nairobi to respond,"
Lucas Lotieng <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIfhI3QIe2Y> , a
pastoralist in the northwestern Turkana County, told IRIN.
Additionally, disparities in power and resources have often fallen
along ethnic lines. Though the country has 42 ethnic groups, only a
handful of have dominated the political landscape.
What is being devolved, exactly?
Devolution is a pillar of the 2010 constitution, which divided Kenya
into 47 counties, each of which are set to have their own executive and
legislative branches of local government; these will be responsible for
agriculture, transportation, trade licenses, sanitation, pre-primary
education, village polytechnics and most health facilities. While
overall policy in these areas may still be drawn up by the national
government, counties will be in charge of implementation and service
delivery.
At least 15 percent of the national budget will now go to these county
governments, with provisions for additional funds under certain
circumstances.
The national government retains responsibility for security, foreign
policy, national economic policy and planning, as well as many areas of
education.
What has been achieved so far?
The new constitution, adopted after a referendum in 2010, set out the
legal and institutional framework of devolution.
The 4 March elections filled the county posts outlined in the
constitution: 47 governors, who head the executive branch of county
governments and who will appoint members of executive committees; and
1,450 ward representatives, who are members of county assemblies or
parliaments.
Ward representatives were sworn in on 22 March, when they also elected
speakers of their assemblies.
The central government has released over 5 billion Kenyan shillings
(US$57.66 million) to finance the operations of the county governments
for the current financial year.
And several new institutions have been set up to manage the process of
devolution. These include:
- The Transitional Authority, which oversees the shift of powers from
Nairobi to the county level;
- The Commission for Revenue Allocation, which manages the distribution
of budgetary resources between the central government and the counties
and among the 47 counties;
- The Task Force on Devolved Government (TFDG), appointed by the
government, which put in place six significant bills that would ensure
the development of administrative structures to guide the devolution
process;
- The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution, whose
mandate includes, but extends well beyond, ensuring constitutional
provisions regarding devolution are respected.
What happens next?
Once governors-elect are sworn in on 27 March, the entire machinery of
county government will begin to take shape. A whole array of new
personnel will have to be trained, assets audited and offices built.
Assemblies will begin to draw up local legislation and executives will
start to implement them.
<http://www.irinnews.org/photo/Download.aspx?Source=Report&Year=2011&Ima
geID=201108101209360699&width=490>
Photo: Wendy Stone/IRIN <http://www.irinnews.org/photo/>
Healthcare is one of many areas being devolved
Many practical issues will have to be sorted out, such locating the
physical premises of new institutions. Confusion over how the new
bodies and officials will work with the provincial administration, and
potential power struggles between governors and provincial or district
commissioners - who remain in office as an arm of the national
government - will have to be sorted out.
It is expected to take several years for the new devolved institutions
to be fully up and running.
What challenges lie ahead?
Capacity, corruption, conflict and commitment are some of the areas of
concern raised by civil society.
On capacity, there are fears that existing managerial or technical
expertise, especially in long-marginalized and impoverished parts of
the country, will fall short of what's required by effective local
governance structures. The health sector
<http://abimwachi.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-devolution-in-healthcare-sect
or-is.html> , in particular, is said to be vulnerable.
Additionally, the corruption and inter-communal rivalries that
decentralization is meant to address could end up undermining the
whole process.
"We will now be posting civil servants and other officials to the
counties to carry out functions, so there is high likelihood that we
will simply be devolving the corruption that has taken place in the
centre," Tom Mboya, deputy Chief Executive Officer of civil society
group Inuka Kenya Trust, told IRIN.
Others have expressed fears that rivalries will lead to the exclusion
of minority groups from county-level decision-making and
resource-allocation, which could exacerbate tensions between
communities, possibly leading to violence. (In 2012, almost 500 Kenyans
were killed and more than 100,000 displaced as a result of
inter-communal conflicts.)
TISA's Wakhisi said he was confident recent developments - including
new legislation, forums for governors and senators, and improved public
access to information - had significantly mitigated such risks.
"I foresee a situation whereby relevant institutions that have been put
into place will make sure that resources are shared equitably without
conflicts," he told IRIN.
Others say the process is already being challenged at the highest
levels; there have been accusations that segments of the political
class in Nairobi are resisting devolution in an attempt to cling on to
their powers.
According to activist Maina Kiai, over the past year, elements of the
central government have "basically been refusing to accept that there's
a new constitution. If that trend continues then there's likelihood of
fallout."
Such views are gaining mainstream traction. The best-selling Daily
Nation newspaper recently warned in an editorial
<http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Editorial/Central-government-is-subverting
-devolution/-/440804/1727922/-/15omjvcz/-/index.html> : "Those in
central government, especially the team at [the Office of the
President], who are plotting to undermine devolution through devious
machinations, including administrative fiats, are daydreaming and must
be stopped right in their tracks."
Meanwhile, some finer details of devolution, notably financial ones,
remain unresolved. Analyst Jason Lakin pointed out in a recent op-ed
<http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Rich-county-poor-county-Th
e-coming-challenges-of-devolution-/-/434750/1301880/-/view/printVersion/
-/16srmr/-/index.html> that the county governments' 15 percent share
of national resources would only meet half their estimated budget
requirements.
"There is an urgent need to define further the responsibilities that
counties will have within specific sectors, and then to think through
appropriate and fair mechanisms for sharing resources across counties
to meet these responsibilities," Laskin wrote.
lam/am/rz
Read report online <http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=97726>
_____
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