Resolve nomination disputes urgently

A number of governors are yet to constitute their governments after county assemblies rejected nominees for county ministers.  Some of the nominations are subject of court disputes while others smack of the usual petty rivalries between the governors and Ward Reps as well as vested interests. Like in the national administration, failure to constitute county governments will certainly delay decision making and derail service delivery. The affected counties include Kiambu, Machakos, Kitui, Nakuru, Meru, Isiolo and Taita Taveta.

 While rejecting the nominees, the Ward Reps have cited lack of meritocracy and cronyism by the governors. The Nakuru dispute is at the Employment and Labour Relations Court which ruled that it has original jurisdiction on matters of that nature. Most of the governors are accused of nominating individuals who have no technical expertise in the dockets assigned to them. There have been gory stories in the past where governors appointed their relatives and concubines at the expense of deserving individuals.

County governments should not be dumping grounds for incompetence and ineptitude.

While the Ward Reps have the legal duty to oversight the governors and vet the nominees, claims that the process has become an avenue for extortion and blackmail call for scrutiny. 

Ward Reps have been accused of seeking bribes and favours from the nominees and governors to give the candidates a clean bill of health. It is unthinkable that the same alleged bribe takers are tasked with oversight of county funds.

Devolution is celebrated as one of the hall marks of the 2010 Constitution. It is tailored to not only unlock resources from the centre to the devolved units, but also service delivery.  

Residents of previously marginalised regions of the country have had their first layers of tarmac and access to medical care while children from poor families have gone to school due to devolution.That is why it must be guarded jealously.

To achieve this, the county governments must ensure that devolution is driven by appropriate hands at the tiller. Delayed service delivery affects the ordinary people who are the primary target of devolution.  While some of the disputes surrounding the nominations have merit, other serve no public interest. We ask the courts and parties to the conflicts to solve them swiftly to unlock service delivery to the people. While at it, we ask Kenyans to exert greater vigilance over the recruitment of county staff.

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