This is a serious thread

There have been several discussions on the danger or tendency of the central government to allocate too many resources in Nairobi. I agree with this analysis and there are indeed inherent dangers in centralization of resources in the capital. This you will see in other cities most famous if which is London in the UK. London hogs a lot of resources and has by far much more infrastructure than the rest of England. However, the answer may not to re-locate ministries out of Nairobi as this may introduce problems in governance.

One of the ways I think would work better is to create government structures at the county level that have similar structures as the central one and create liaisons or linked with working systems to improve efficiency. Services like issuance of passports, ID cards, business licenses can be de-centralized gradually once our national institutions have matured and strengthened. You may want to keep in mind that security is the responsibility of the central government and we do not want national IDs or passports being issued left, right and centre without oversight.....probably regional offices can be established to cater for numerous counties...

Counties may not all be managed well and there as still some counties that will suffer due to lack of professionals, natural resources like water, very bad waether....and the central government will still need to baby sit them a little longer.....it happens in the USA as well. States like Texas, Carlifornia and New York are primarily the engine of the US economy and economic basket of the country....you will be surprised that even today, there are many US states that do not stand entirely on their own...more than 234 years after independence!

Counties will however create good competition to attract investors both local, regional and international. One very visible change would be development in infrastructure (roads, bridges, hospitals, schools) and even services. Lazy or poorly managed counties will be exposed for what they are.....and governors with an eye for the presidency will be gearing to out perform one another...mmmm why not? Remember, most of our next generation presidents will be ex-governors especially those who would have managed their counties well....people like leaders who have demonstrated good executive competency (read governors)....and that is also the case in the US where more ex-governors have been elected the US president than congressmen.....

I hope to hear from you what you think

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To a Better Kenya

I can't believe no one responded to this, you said it all so well I'd love the Kenyan people to shift their attention from loud non-performing politiccians and discuss these issues. Kudos Kabul-Guy this is a really nice thread. Now concerning the counties I would say that their success depends on the governors and senetors Kenyans will choose in 2012, if we choose the same old, all talk and no work politicians then total failure is in the offing.

I did not see this thread.I don't know how i missed it.But very good points raised there by the OP.One thing that really pisses me off is that,former MPs who were thrown out by their constituents for non-perfomance in their constituencies,are now busy scrambling for Governor and Senator slots.

How i would have wished that professionals would be elected and not politicians.

right ernestombayo7, if people rejected them because they were not performing as MPs it would be really stupid for those people to think that the samepeople would perform in the counties.

Decentralization is good but it'll not be the magic pill.It'll bring services closer,infrastructure and a modicum of economic activity but it will not do much else commercially.You have to realize even as GK gets accused of concentrating resources in Nbi,it has always had more favourable tax policies for investors outside.

You can build as many county offices as you can but it'll remain what gov't places always are:inherently dead places commercially.The key is private sector to inject commercial life not the gov't.This is what people wrongly accuse the gov't of doing in Nrb.It is the growth of private capital that makes Nbi,London,Texas or New York what they are and this forces gov'ts to expand infrastructure(on credit) to keep their tax cows humming not the other way round.

Dear All,

I am glad that you are finally on board. I was afraid that majamaas didn't like discussing critical matters on governance....Now that I have you guys on board, I look forward to more contributions. Key issues to governance

a) Civic Knowledge of the electorate
b) Constitution implementation.........please read "Judicial system". This is one arm of governance with the potential to end impunity and corruption....thus improving accountability
c) Competition. When some counties start becoming middle-class income zones...well, the non-performing ones will get exposed. Kenyans will be able to see this and throw out pretenders
d) Education....in particular ICT. People, hatuna dhahabu, Almasi, mafuta.....ICT is the key driver to VISION 2030. Believe you me......An educated class means higher productivity and thus more revenue...do not forget potential outsoursing of Jobs. Fortunateky we are not bad in this area but we can do much better
e) Infrastructure - well just read the budget again and see how Kibaki's government has woken up and started smelling the coffee (albeit late).... The new airport terminal and other big time projects will spur growth
f) The issue of old politicians will not go away....they are corrupt and have a sense of entitlement. Only nature will be able to put them away :) .......but the youth have a big say and stakes in the futute of this country....so YOUTH must be at the fore of our development....we don't want rwanda kids coming here taking over our jobs in the future. Ask the Americans how the chinese and Indians (especially the latter) have taken all possible desk jobs from the americans...

In all, decentralization is a good thing as it will improve social services, and create adequate competition and improved governance. The centre will still have a key role to play here......what is not clear is how we will afford such a huge structure. my take is that less money stolen from corruption can be re-invested back to giving services to the people......

I am counting on the new CJ to deliver...politicians will always be politicians.....they are important in our society but they should not be that IMPORTANT. Kenya ni yetu wote.

Are they still refusing to pay taxes? They are just UNBELIEVABLE. We should campaign to ensure non of the current crop of MPs is ever re-elected. Not even to the post of "toilet cleaner to the governor"!!!!

^^

+1.

Just give it time. Kenya is a work in progress. :)

Are they still refusing to pay taxes? They are just UNBELIEVABLE. We should campaign to ensure non of the current crop of MPs is ever re-elected. Not even to the post of "toilet cleaner to the governor"!!!!

Good news is that many will be shown the door as MPs. Bad news is that they will become Governors (who will be more influential than MP's in the new structure). Wait and see.

Good news is that many will be shown the door as MPs. Bad news is that they will become Governors (who will be more influential than MP's in the new structure). Wait and see.
:ohno: I hope not these people have messed Kenya up since time immemorial.

:ohno: I hope not these people have messed Kenya up since time immemorial.

Alot of them are already lining themselves up for governoship positions.

Dear All,



Are they still refusing to pay taxes? They are just UNBELIEVABLE. We should campaign to ensure non of the current crop of MPs is ever re-elected. Not even to the post of "toilet cleaner to the governor"!!!!And the way they are paid even more than some MPs in developed countries!!!:uh:

You know, natural selection is a damn good theory....soon (maybe not in the next elections), our politics will increasingly become issue based. The babyboomers will not be able to provide any good ideas moving forward as we become more technology savvy, development oriented and to be honest.....more demanding on integrity. Every progressive society learns its life lessons that become the building block of the future. The bungled 2007 elections was our watershed moment in as far as political take-off in concerned. the RESULT.....a new and quite honest well above average constitution that pundits call....most progressive in the continent

The business of society transformation takes time....it goes over generations. After the next general elections...I see another water shed moment for Kenya...an economical one. There will be some very good success stories as we approach the 2017 elections that will forever change how we elect our leaders. These lessons need not be violent as the PEV of 2007.....

I see every elections as a step forward to our continued transformation and hopefully we can meet our goal of VISION 2030. Kibaki has done a lot to get us started...the job must continue. Unfortunately, replacing all these ungrateful MPs will not happen overnight but they will be forced to change from within and PAY TAXES for almighty GOD's sake!! This tax issue is infuriating everyone even MAMA MBOGA at my local MTAA

Let us keep the discussion going.