Expectedly, powerful status-quo forces in government are desperately trying to subvert the new constitution under the pretext of establishing administrative structures to "coordinate and facilitate" government functions in the counties before those devolved structures are even established.
They are attempting an impossible task: the premature and illegitimate resurrection of the Provincial Administration before their official death and burial.
Ironically, coordination and supervision of the execution of all government functions is a constitutional preserve - at least for now - of the PM who has never used the Provincial Administration to execute his functions. Moreover, the "reasons" those at the OP have expressed as the "basis" for their love for the Provincial Administration are the very reasons Kenyans have overwhelmingly voted to abolish them; to stop them from being used by the imperial presidency as instruments of oppression.
Devolution is a governance system that decentralises power, resources and services from the centre to the grassroots. It will allow the people to make decisions on matters that affect their lives. The counties will elect their governments. There will be County Assemblies where laws will be made.
The national government will have no authority to coordinate and supervise local matters for the counties. To permit that would mean we transform devolution into "delegation". That will not happen.
The Provincial Administration is an ad hoc administrative department in the Office of the President. It's under the Ministry of Internal Security and Provincial Administration. It was never provided for in the old Constitution and has only been retained for five years for "restructuring," which, frankly, is just a nice way of saying "dissolution".
For more than 50 years, the colonial and neo-colonial governments used this corrupt instrument for control, exploitation and manipulation as well as manipulation and rigging of elections, suppression of dissent and spying for the imperial presidency.
Senior officials from the OP have said they "are in the process of restructuring" this colonial relic. If allowed, it would be tantamount to permitting the violation of the Constitution and the usurpation of powers of the Implementation Commission, which, has the exclusive man-date to monitor, coordinate, prepare and present legislation and other mechanisms of ensuring the letter and spirit of the Constitution is respected.
Some power mandarins have said, "we can't wait five years to restructure the 'Provincial Administration; restructuring will be completed in a maximum period of six months. The national government must coordinate its activities all over the country." That's mystifying. The implementation of the Constitution and the coordination of government functions must be done by institutions, organs and agents recognised by law. Presently coordination is the purview of the Office of the PM while most aspects of implementation are reserved for the CIC.
No one can "appoint" anyone to superintend for the President, no matter how imperial, to the yet-to-be-operationalised counties. Purporting to "cluster" counties or the disbanded districts in administrative units without legal authority is utter contempt and disregard of clear constitutional provisions.
The Constitution transforms governance by creating, entrenching and enhancing transparency, efficiency and fairness in public affairs. It also eradicates the imperial presidency. Kenyans were determined to use the new charter to promote democracy.
Their aim was not just to transform the laws; they wanted to create new institutions and leadership responsive to the public interests.
To achieve those goals, it specifies that at the level of the executive, consultations between the President and the PM must occur for all decisions, appointments and nominations. The legislature has the exclusive jurisdiction to vet those nominations. The yet-to-be-established Supreme Court has the exclusive mandate to resolve disputes and questions arising from the new Constitution.
The implementation of the constitution is supposed to occur in a consultative, fair, inclusive, and transparent manner. The Implementation Commission will monitor, facilitate and oversee the development of legislation and administrative procedures required to implement the Constitution and to work with each constitutional commission to ensure that the letter and spirit of this Constitution is respected.
On August 6, Kenyans created a constitutional democracy where ultimate power and authority vests on them. Government only exercises power and authority donated by the people. Therefore, if the executive does anything that contravenes or undermines the authority of the public, the decision or act becomes illegitimate and void.
The writer is the PM's adviser on coalition affairs. The views expressed here are his own.
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