EQUILIBRIUM by Eric Ng'eno
Wambora Aftermath. Three hypotheses have gained currency in under 24 hours. One is that the godlets who pass for our governors will now have to form a habit of occasionally visiting us earthlings. Once in a while. And actually listening and engaging with us. The Glory Days are gone for good. Humble pie is real, a specialty of Senate Confectioners, Inc.
Second is the Rise of the Gang. According to this proposition, the MCA has suddenly acquired substantial presence in our political order. No longer to be equated with councillors under the Local Government Act of yore, these guys supply the ingredients with which Senate confects the ghastly pie aforementioned. Which comes with its downside:these guys can now become a vile cartel, extorting feckless county governors until the coffers of devolved units run dry. In short, this hypothesis has it that the Devolution of Bad Manners is now done and dusted.
Third is that the governorships' house of cards will come tumbling down in spectacular fashion, as Senate pays back after months of being reviled by Isaac Rutto et al. Governors will actually have to work, and take responsibility for the good and, especially the bad that happens in counties. Many have no clue what their work is. Many have already set out on the wrong path, and will have to exert themselves mightily to turn the juggernaut of devolved units around. Notice has been served that Martin Wambora is most certainly the first, but by no means the last to bite the dust.
As a result, there are lamentations abroad that perhaps Devolution might never work. I see why one would lament. Chaotic. Intractable. Wasteful. Prone to dysfunction and paralysis at the slightest impulse. Perhaps.
But I see other things. The constitution has prescribed a most optimistic version of how Devolution will work. It is the best marketing campaign for the new system of governance. If, at Referendum, we had all known things would turn out the way they have, perhaps we would not even have a new constitution. The constitution sets out the 'ought' proposition. No one says that it will play out faithfully per script. What will happen is that various mandates and jurisdictions and organs and institutions will continue to push and pull, shove about and wrestle viciously,as we have been witnessing on macro and micro levels. By macro I refer to the Montesquieu arms of Government: Judiciary and Executive, Judiciary and Parliament, any of the above and independent commissions, etc. By micro I mean the little tiffs, like why there are minority leaders in county assemblies that are ruled100% one party or coalition, whether the County Aseembly Speaker ought to perform one task as opposed to the County Service Board Secretary,and so on.
The constitution is a benchmark for political engagement. Devolution is, first and foremost, a political desideratum. This, means that negotiation and competing, conflicting claims will flex about until equilibrium is attained. And that equilibrium is not spelled out in the constitution either. It may not even be satisfactory to any claimant. It will be like the Tower of Pisa. A better analogy would be yourself after seven good tequillas. You will hold yourself up first, then lean your head on your palm, and elbow on the bar. As things take their course, you will lay your arm on the bar, and your head upon it. Then, if things get worse, you might find upright or raised structures unsatisfactoty, and opt to lean on the floor, mouth open,hands rammed down your crotch, between your legs. Alcohol. Fatigue. Gravity. Furniture. All are claimants to your repose.Equilibrium.
It will happen. All politics is organic and negotiated. Devolution is the favourite child of our political system.