Mr President, please enforce rule of law, actualise devolution

Dear President William Ruto. I wanted to write you a letter on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, after your inauguration ceremony as the President of the Republic of Kenya.

I wanted to write you a letter to highlight the challenges that block development in Kenya.

Mr President, your speech and actions immediately after touched on important aspects of the problems ailing Kenya.

But there are three issues that I feel require more emphasis than what you have done thus far.

These are problems of mediocrity, weak rule of law and inadequate attention to devolution.

Mr President, mediocrity is a major problem in Kenya today. The quality of services to the public is not exciting. 

The public service has been delivering low-quality services or just enough quality.

There is no excellence in standards by our public service whether in social sectors or in financial sectors.

Our public sector is simply mediocre; services do not excite; services are just poor and no one cares except when there are per diems to some cities in Kenya.

But I do not blame the civil servants for this culture. Ordinary public servants work hard. The problem is the senior leadership.

The senior leadership from the level of Principal Secretaries to the Cabinet Secretaries do not seek excellence.

Anything ‘just enough” passes for something good. But this could also be the result of a problem located somewhere higher than where the Cabinet Secretaries sit.

The presidency. There is no way that mediocre culture can permeate all departments if there is effective oversight.

Mr President, please eliminate mediocrity. Please cultivate a culture of excellence in the public sector. 

Please insist on excellence – not just quality – as an end and as a means. This will make citizens happy with services.

And this is not a far-fetched dream. In President Mwai Kibaki’s first administration of 2003-2007, the government introduced a performance management system and asked all the ministries to sign performance contracts in a plan where delivery of quality services was a priority.

Mr President, it disturbs to find senior people in government going for the inferior quality and something that does not excite.

Delivery of services to ordinary citizens should be marked by quality and should be exciting to watch or even identify with. Please address this so that citizens can enjoy what goes on in their country, Kenya.

The rule of law

Mr President, let me now turn to a subject you have already identified as a central pillar – if I am not wrong – of your government. In the past few days, you have touched on the rule of law on several times.

You have said that your government will be a government that respects the rule of law. You have said a number of times that in your administration, Kenya will stand out as a country governed by laws and that everyone will be equal before the law.

I fully agree with you on this issue. Sir, there is a small problem that you have not touched on.

You have not touched on the fact that ordinary citizens break the law, undermine the law, and breach the law because senior people in government also do so without facing any consequences.

Let me give a small example that remains messy and disturbing to the public: chaotic traffic jams on our roads.

In many instances, you will find senior government officials, especially Cabinet secretaries and governors, driving their big vehicles on the wrong side of the road.

The sirens are usually on and their vehicles drive fast as if they are ambulances rushing patients to hospital.

Of course Cabinet secretaries, county governors and other senior people who break traffic rules are sick. They are sick because their behaviour leads to other Kenyans breaching the rules.

Mr President, it is my hope that you will warn your Cabinet secretaries against breaching the rules.

I hope your Cabinet secretaries will be driven by values of integrity and honesty. This is a job that will require men and women driven by honesty and do the right things even when no one is watching.

But I must say that this behaviour of senior people in government breaking all the rules and expecting ordinary people to adhere to the rules is laughable.

Sir, I raise these issues of adhering to rules and a commitment to the law because a society built on strong rules, norms and values develop a strong foundation for many generations to come.

But our leaders don’t care about these rules. It is my hope that the leaders you get in the government are people who care about the need to build a strong national brand founded on laws and a highly satisfied citizenry.

Mr President, I know these two things that I am talking about – mediocrity and rule of law – are not exciting enough but they are the pillars of a strong society. 

These are the inputs to a strong inclusive, equitable and just society. Good luck, sir. But let me turn to another important challenge – poor implementation of devolution.

The big thing is devolution

Mr President, the provision of devolution in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 excited over 70 per cent of Kenyans in 2010.

They were happy that at long last there was an answer to the problem of inequalities in Kenya.

They were happy that devolution would address the long-standing grievance of development.

People were excited that all corners of the country would develop irrespective of their political affiliations.

Those in marginalised areas of Northern Kenya were happy that they were becoming Kenyan. They had previously been treated as second-class Kenyans, but devolution gave them hope of being fully and proudly Kenyan. 

The Constitution promised them the Equalisation Fund to enable them to catch up with others. But this Equalisation Fund was not respected by the previous administration and, therefore, they are yet to catch up with others.

Mr President, allow me to identify a few problems that undermine devolution. You may not know it but let me say that the senior bureaucrats in the National Treasury, Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture do not like devolution.

They want centralised functions because this is what gives them power and resources.

They will say yes to you but immediately they leave your office, they will discuss how difficult it is to allow devolution. Their simple excuse is that the county governments have no capacity for anything.

]But the counties have enormous capacity and skills to carry out functions. What the senior bureaucrats are afraid of is loss of power and resources if they transfer all the functions and resources.

Please begin by example. Read the riot act to senior bureaucrats in the National Treasury, ministries of Health, Agriculture and Water. These are the few ministries that have failed Kenya’s devolution.

If you read them the riot act, they will know that it is not business as usual. Otherwise, they will wait to co-opt your new Cabinet secretaries and Principal secretaries. They co-opt with ease.

They show top officers where to ‘eat’ and how to ‘eat’ – they begin by showing anyone new where the money for self-enrichment is located. This is how they co-opt new appointees in office. 

But you have touched on a number of devolved functions without sounding as if you are interested in consulting with the county governments. 

Devolution

Mr President, health is a devolved function! Agriculture is also devolved! Your option to provide subsidised fertiliser is a good deed.

But what will be the role of the county governments in this function? You have also pointed out that you will improve health services by restructuring the National Hospital Insurance (NHIF) subscription.

This is a good proposal but again what is the role of the county governments?

Mr President, I plead that you begin by giving the county governments the space and the freedom to do their thing.

You can ask the ministries to set the standards and drive the policy agenda, but do not allow them to carry out the work of county governments.

Let me end by saying that devolution was undermined by the national government in the past 10 years and that you should do things differently. 

Functions have not been completely transferred to the counties. Some remain with national government ministries, especially under the ministries of Health, Agriculture and water, among others.

Please prioritise giving the counties their functions and resources.

People in the counties value their county governments. If devolution is allowed to work, many people would be so contented that they would not consider the presidency a ‘do or die’ affair in an election.

If you make devolution work, then you will leave a big mark in Kenya’s development space.

Mr President, please shift focus to effective implementation of devolution. 

The future of Kenya lies in a working devolution. If devolution works, then you will have many pages in Kenya’s future books. You can also go on a holiday break because people will be enjoying great services.

Prof Kanyinga is based at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi, [email protected], @karutikk