Turning the Wheel of Devolution
Chrispine Oduor
“Will devolution succeed?” This seems to be a common question doing the rounds. Yet the more important question is “How can I contribute to the success of devolution?” for if you and I are not part of the solution then we are simply part of the problem.
It all begins with basic understanding of devolution and the laws, and what is expected of the leaders who are duty bearers and the citizen who are the rights holders. This requires citizens to seek information and civil society organizations to disseminate information, some of which is not available or even complex, to target groups.
The wheels of devolution begun turning with the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 on August 27, 2010. The climax and actualization of devolved governance came to pass with the general election that was held on April 4, 2013.
Various laws have been enacted to anchor devolution all clearly spelling out the role of the leaders and the citizen in devolved governance. The ball has been placed squarely in the court of both with the citizen being represented by the individual, the media, and non state actors including the civil society organizations and the business community among others.
Previous attempts at decentralization including Majimbo, the District Focus for Rural Development, the Special Rural Development Programme and fiscal decentralization did not achieve the desired results due lack of opportunities for citizen participation among other reasons. Citizen participation through existing mechanisms such as the location development committee meetings provided under the Constituency Development Fund and the Local Authority Service Delivery Action Plan meetings under the Local Authority Transfer Fund’s was minimal.
Kenya’s devolution today provides for constitutionally protected resources from the consolidated fund kitty to enable implementation by the devolved governments. County governments also have revenue raising and expenditure powers.
A lot seems to have been left to the leaders who in most instances were disappointing but citizens now have the opportunity to make meaningful contribution and also demand for accountability. All this is enshrined in the constitution and the laws.
Citizen need to express the sovereign power vested in them by Article 1 of the constitution through direct participation or participation through their elected representatives. The national and county governments on their part need to provide opportunities for citizens for participation. As citizens we need to get to know how much has been received in our counties and what it is being put into by participating in budget preparation and validation through the County Budget and Economic Forum.
The law provides opportunities for citizen participation in the prioritization of community needs during the development of County Integrated Development Plans, sectoral plans, spatial plans and the urban areas and cities plans. Citizens can also engage with their county governments through the citizen fora, participating in local referendum, attending town hall meetings, and monitoring implementation of projects by engaging in social accountability exercises such as visiting project sites. They can also apply for tenders to supply goods and services. Citizen can also engage in exercises such as carrying out analysis of budgets and social audits in order to ensure that resources sent to the counties are delivering the services and goods that they are meant to.
Input into technical issues can be done through stakeholders such as civil society organizations. This may include engaging with the Senate, the National Assembly, the County Assembly and the various constitutional commissions and other relevant offices in order to ensure that the laws and policies put in place are in tandem with the constitution. Civil society organizations may engage in more complex issues such as raising concerns around the analysis and costing of functions to ensure that counties receive adequate resources that will enable them deliver on their mandate. They can also offer technical assistance to both the national and county government, formulation of budget policy statements, county fiscal strategy papers, budget estimates, division of revenue bill, county allocation of revenue bills, budget analysis and budget tracking.
The media on its part represent key tools for involving local communities in development at the local level and raising awareness at all levels. Media should be an open platform for debate and a watchdog on governance. The media has an important role of ensuring accountable governance by providing information on utilization of county resources. Journalists must take a lead role in reporting on successes and best practice. They can help fight devolved corruption by exposing governance malpractices and abuse of office.
Stakeholders might have missed out on some of these processes but there is room and need to reclaim the same as we rally efforts aimed at contributing to the country’s development aspirations as captured in our development policies such as the Vision 2030.
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