QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOVERNOR

The new Constitution was inspired by a clear vision — to facilitate the development of a human rights state in Kenya by overhauling the neo-colonial state established by the British and sustained by the successive post-colonial administration. To build the new human rights state, the new Constitution has created devolved county units. The 47 counties will work like 47 parastatals. Each parastatal shall have a chief executive officer, the governor, who will be accountable to a board of directors called the County Assembly. Each governor must ensure the county government defines the development objectives, sets out a plan through programmes, proposes a budget for delivering each programme, employs the best talent to manage the works on each of the programme, supervises each of the programmes daily, accounts to the County Assembly, and ensures that all the legal and constitutional obligations of the county government are met. The County Assembly must ensure that the chief executive delivers by performing four functions — oversight, representation of interests, making enabling laws and undertaking advocacy on behalf of the county government at the national and international levels. Only men and women with the skills to deliver on the following four areas should be elected to the assembly. The governor must manage a clean, lean, effective, accountable and responsive county government. This means that he or she must employ only non-corrupt officers at the county government. He or she must, of course, be clean, with no record of corruption and sleaze. The counties should not become cash cows where unnecessary workers are stocked to draw cash without delivering services or adding value. This means the county governments must be lean and rationalised. We must get it right from the word go. Thirdly, the county governments must be effective, which requires that it cultivates the capacity to ensure security for its citizens and facilitate them to lead quality lives. Fourthly, county governments must be accountable both vertically and horizontally. Horizontally, it must be accountable to the County Assembly on all matters of budget management, personnel and strategic management. Vertically, it must account to the people directly. Similarly, the county government must account to the senate and the National Assembly as well as to the executive as regards its policy choices and how it is applying funds given to facilitate development in the county. Fifth, governors must ensure county governments are responsive to the needs of the people. A consultative process must be established where the residents have a say on the priorities of investments and action. It must also have the capacity to mitigate disasters. Governors, therefore, must be leaders as well as gifted managers who know how to balance politics with government responsibilities. For example, the Busia governor must know how to balance between the politics of the county with the massive tasks and responsibilities of the government in Busia. He or she must know how to address each of the wards, polling stations, members of the County Assembly, the area MPs, the senator as well as the President without losing focus on the core business. The governors must be men and women who are public-spirited, and civic-minded and ready to hire the best talent. They must know how to build teams. They must be tough but wise. They must be good communicators who also know how to fundraise and manage resources. They must be good planners and organisers. They must be people who love their families enough not to want to expose them to scandal and odium. People who have run down constituencies, political parties, parastatals, schools, ministries, trade unions, associations, clubs and government offices do not qualify. Most of the old guys who belong to the advisory bench do not qualify to occupy the office of governor in Kenya.