Counties are stoking exclusion
Council of Governor's chairperson Martin Wambora during the County Public Service Boards National Consultative Forum in Mombasa in October 2021.
Throughout the protracted struggle for political reforms that culminated in the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the marginalisation and exclusion of communities, groups and regions was a major grievance.
Kenyans voiced a desire for an inclusive governance structure anchored on equitable access to resources and participation of the people in decision-making.
As one of the core pillars of the new Constitution, devolution was conceptualised as a vehicle for national inclusion including protecting the rights and interests of minorities and excluded groups.
However, it has, in fact, entrenched ethnic marginalisation. This phenomenon is well captured in an insightful article titled “The State of political inclusion of ethnic communities under Kenya’s devolved system” by Ben Nyabira and Zemelah Ayele, where they posit that “previously excluded communities not only have become represented at county level, but have in fact gained control of one or more counties where they form the majority... (and) are excluding those who are in the minority in those counties.”
This new dynamic is shaping local politics in fundamental ways, including the emergence of a negotiated form of democracy in the counties, in which the dominant local political elite decide how power and economic resources in the county will be allocated.
Whereas the Constitution recognises the “ethnic, cultural and religious diversity of the Kenyan people” the reality is that ethnic relations in Kenya are characterised by mistrust and suspicion. Counties are now theatres of ethnic contestations around power and resources.
In some county assemblies, for example, over 90 per cent of MCAs come from the so-called indigenous communities. Appointments to county jobs are highly ethnically skewed. Who is elected governor depends on factional politics aligned to ethnic interests.
Since county governments are platforms through which communities access, participate and benefit from public service functions, the perception that they belong to certain communities reinforces the feeling of exclusion among those left out.
Negotiated democracy should be embraced with in a manner that does not erode the benefits of devolution or undermine the long-term stability of the country at large.
Mr Mwachinga is a lawyer; [email protected]
