Peter Lomulen

7 September 2010

opinion

Nairobi — The birth of the Second Republic has been received with joy. To most Kenyans, it is a major milestone in the improvement of their welfare.

It offers a plethora of checks and balances at all levels of government, crowned by an elaborate Bill of Rights.

It also establishes devolved governments through the 47 counties. Article 56, Chapter 4 of the new Constitution directs the State to apply affirmative action to ensure that minorities and marginalised groups are provided with basic needs such as education, employment and economic opportunities.

Indeed, the essence of devolved governments is to allow the communities to actively take part in self-governance, and to ensure the rights of minorities and the marginalised are protected.

Pastoral communities are one group categorised so. Mandera, Marsabit, Samburu and Turkana are the counties considered marginalised, and which have been remote for a very long time.

It is common knowledge that these areas have lagged behind in most spheres of development, either due to natural reasons like drought, or due to problems like poor infrastructure in health, education and other services.

This sorry state of affairs has not just obtained due to appalling indifference by the central government, but also due to poor political representation.

The political representatives have either been elderly gatekeepers limited by their education level, Kanu sycophants or selfish elites. In particular, local communities trusted the elites posing with degree certificates laying effusive strategies on how to alleviate poverty among the masses.

Indeed, some of them had the right connections and even enjoyed political support. Probably one could forgive the poor Kanu stalwarts whose power is already history. But the rest have also failed to facilitate development. Why?

Once elected, the majority threw away the values of leadership in exchange and settled for graft, patronage and nepotism.This group was thrown out in 2007, but some survived and are back in Parliament.

They have now perfected the art of manipulating the poor majority or sidelining other leaders, particularly those espousing the tenets of democracy.

It is the same class of politicians that is now warming up for key positions in the new counties as senators and governors. Articles 73 and 75 of Chapter Six of the new Constitution outline specific expectations and operating principles for State officers to embrace and display leadership in conducting public affairs.

Corruption and impunity have been major setbacks to development. Political elites have been the main culprits. Are they likely to change their tactics and provide the badly wanted leadership?

The establishment of counties affords a lifetime opportunity for the people of Mandera, Marsabit, Samburu or Turkana. But the question is whether they will seize the moment and improve these areas.

My gut feeling is that the voters will compound their mistake by recycling the same politicians. If this happens, these areas are bound to sink into worse stagnation in the next 20 years.The new counties require leadership badly. Just as the new law has benefited from the goodwill of political leaders at the national level, leadership at the county level is expected to play a key role in erecting a public platform for the people to discuss and agree on a common development agenda.

Mr Lomulen is a management consultant