ICPAK chairman Benson Okundi. PHOTO | FILE
An audit on the new Constitution’s impact on the economy has
come up with findings and recommendations that should be accorded
serious consideration.
The team headed by the
Auditor-General did not restrict itself strictly to financial issues,
but delved into the social and political arena to come up with a wide
range of recommendations that are worth noting.
Although
what was released yesterday was just the first interim audit
commissioned by the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations
Committee, it should set the platform for a national debate on many
issues germane to the implementation of the new order heralded by the
enactment of the 2010 Constitution.
Some of the
recommendations, especially those touching on political issues such as
higher academic qualifications for elected officials, allowing
presidential candidates to also run for other offices, and reducing the
number of county electoral wards, are bound to be quite controversial.
However,
the report should be looked at in its totality. For instance, the study
found that despite teething problems, devolution has been a success
story.
It also debunks the myth that establishment of
county structures has been a drain on the economy, pointing out that the
biggest contributor to the ballooning public wage bill has been the
central government despite transfer of functions and personnel to
devolved units.
This report indeed lays the platform
for a wider audit of the new Constitution through a neutral and
impartial process that it not tainted by partisan interests.
If
politics can be kept at bay as the audit moves on to the next phase
that will involve public participation, then we might well have the
blueprint for an important exercise that could be useful towards
resolving the gaps and loopholes that come with the new Constitution.
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