The report by the Auditor-General on
expenditure in the counties makes one wonder if the county system is the
salvation that ordinary Kenyans have been waiting for. The answer may
be a resounding ‘No’. According to the report, a majority of the
counties did not spend any money on development during the first quarter
of the fiscal year.
A good amount of their budgets
were spent on remuneration and recurrent expenses. Right there are alarm
bells for those still sleeping and hoping that Kenya will be
transformed by the county system into a developed country. There are
many arguments that the system is still ‘young’ and the leaders need
time to adjust. That is unlikely to happen. Performers like the late
Hon. Michuki hit the ground running any time they got a new docket, and
within the first quarter of their stay in office they had made major
declarations which they then followed through with implementation
.
.
The
counties are involved in the politics of consumerism. This will not
spur economic growth. Engaging in activities such as improvement of
water, sanitation, education and infrastructure are what spur economic
growth and benefit wananchi in addition to building linkages to other development projects in the county.
The
tax regimes that the counties have introduced have in large part failed
to impress the public too. The ideas getting out of even the most
innovative counties are similar to the techno and resort cities already
mentioned. No county for example is claiming to be the home of cottage
industries and working towards that end. None is claiming to be the home
of technological innovation – we have had Kenyans make power, radios
and many other gadgets at the National Science Congress for schools.
These are the ideas that can spur real economic growth.
But
what is most unacceptable is that even where investors - for example in
the real estate sector - have gone to the counties with projects, the
response is lackluster at best. The counties seem to think they have no
other role to play beyond asking double the amount previously asked by
county council for building permits.
A good example is
the English Point Marina, a luxury housing development in Mombasa
County. This real estate investment has the potential to create linkages
with other investors if the county supports and plays its rightful role
in the investment. The road leading to the development is in a
deplorable condition. Across the scenic ocean – which I suppose is one
of its better selling points – is the Old Town of Mombasa where the
sewerage plant is broken, spewing waste into the ocean. Yet the county
government has failed to see the wisdom in repairing the sewage in
support of the investors likely to take up houses at the Marina, if not
for the comfort of the people of Mombasa.
Though this
example is in Mombasa, the lack of development agenda is replicated in
almost all the counties. In Machakos County bordering Nairobi, similar
cases abound. Real estate developers have invested millions in housing
estates that are showing little or no uptake due to the access roads and
other amenities in this area. In Kiambu, a ban has been imposed on
subdivision of agricultural land. This sounds intelligent on paper until
one realizes that all those 40 X 60 foot parcels of land in Githurai,
Kahawa Barracks, Zimmerman and other places on Kamiti Road are included
in the ban. Seventy per cent of that land is already developed anyway,
and trying to stop the remaining thirty per cent from being developed by
claiming that there is a ban on change of user is well … give it any
phrase you can think of.
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