EDITORIAL: Governors killing the dream of devolution

The creation of counties was heralded as a major victory for region-focused growth that would uplift far-flung outposts that had, since Independence, been ignored by the bureaucrats in Nairobi.

But 12 years later, those lofty aspirations seem to have been misplaced based on the reports of financial mismanagement and the number of high-profile governors either under investigation or already prosecuted and punished.

Counties have so far gobbled up hundreds of billions from Treasury allocations, but there is little to show.

Instead, counties have been turned into hubs of nepotism and ghost workers, and the creation of hundreds of bank accounts, the purpose for which is obvious—to dodge accountability.

The Controller of Budget has only this week tabled a report that indicates that counties have borrowed billions from banks not to build classrooms or equip schools, but to pay salaries.

That is an unforgivable betrayal of the wishes of the people, who have installed a governor and his team in office.

Because corruption thrives and the governors know that the Treasury will deposit cash into their accounts every quarter, very little effort is spent chasing own-source revenue, in effect, making the counties dependent on Treasury money.

Quote of the day: “What is the use being a big man if you are wrong?” —American novelist John Dos Passos was born on January 14, 1896.