What’s the cost of new constitution?

Allow me to share a major concern that majority of Kenyans led by our leaders and the Committee of Experts have avoided to discuss — the cost implications of the proposed new constitution. The normal practice in the corporate world is that when management have some ideas on any proposed changes, be it on restructuring, introduction of new products and services or any change process, they prepare a detailed report on the benefits and the attendant costs for the board of directors’ consideration. Such reports are factual and devoid of emotions.

Management try as much as possible to minimise subjectivity bearing in mind that the directors look favourably at those proposals that improve the profitability of the enterprise, which in turn ensures long-term sustainability of the business.

Just like human beings, business enterprises are interested first and foremost about their economic survival. Unfortunately for Kenya Incorporated, whose reconstruction is being done through the rewriting of the constitution, nobody has told us how much extra money it will cost to run the new bureaucracy. It is not good enough to tell us Kenyans that democracy is expensive, no, as the people who will pick up the bill in form of taxes, we are entitled to know the total cost in advance.

Those of us who have been following the insurance reform debate initiated by US President Barack Obama, are aware that the cost of the new arrangement has been central thrust between the Democrats and the Republicans. Americans have been debating on how the huge bill will be financed. As a country, we have always expressed our displeasure on how the government spends inordinate tax payers money on recurrent expenditure and minimal amounts on development.

For a country faced with serious developmental challenges of poor infrastructure, insecurity, poverty and high unemployment, this is bad economics. What Kenyans should be told, is that the proposed new constitution will make the bad situation worse where the recurrent expenditure will consume almost all the taxes through a host of new institutions and layers of government. Some may argue that we devolution there will be better accountability and transparency in resource utilisation which may compensate for the wieldy bureaucracy.

This may not be necessarily true judging from our experience with the CDF and LATF funds. If anything, in most cases devolution of funds has proved to be a decentralisation of corruption from the centre to the regions. The emotive issues on levels of devolution and other governance issues would have been debated with sober minds is Kenyans were provided with the cost options for each proposal.

As they say in the private sector, “there are no free lunches in business” and Kenyans as reasonable human beings who would eventually pay the bill will have decided the most cost effective governance arrangement.

Finally, in the characteristic Kenyan style of avoiding responsibility, there is a lot of emphasis on equitable resource distribution. Some people and regions have been made to believe that they are poor because other regions are rich. This makes some people have a “victim mentality” which can not be cured by skewed resource allocation. Our people must be told to take responsibility about their lives because they have the God given right to make right choices. Before we can craft equitable resource allocation and form institutions to sit down and discuss the “sharing”, let us mobilize Kenyans produce and grow the cake before thinking on how to share it. How come there is no “productivity enhancement commission” in the proposed draft? it shows how mediocre we are as a people.

Even the hunters during the stone age, they could not sit down and decide to share the choicest animal meet in advance of the hunting and the kill. We are decided to share before producing!

We challenge the PSC sitting in Naivasha to table to Kenyans the cost implications of the proposed governance structure. As the taxes payers and employers of our leaders( aren’t they servants?) we deserve correct information to make informed choices. If this does not happen, we will go to the referendum without knowing the costs benefit of what we will be required to choose from.

As Kenyans let us not be led to unknown destination without knowing the “fares” we should pay-we might be thrown out of the matatu midway. Let us not forget how some “Majimbos” could not sustain themselves after Independence. This is real economics about costs and benefits and its has nothing to do with emotions. At the end of the day, after the dust has settled, someone has to foot the bill: You and I.

The writer works with the Women’s Enterprise Fund. The views expressed here are personal. and do not reflect the position of her employer.