Revelations that county government officials are stealing and stashing cash offshore upends the key mission of devolution that seeks to hasten rural development.
The shady dealings have backed fears that the results of the regional governments will be to devolve the chronic corruption that plagues national politics to a local level.
A report on Kenya’s fight against illicit financing disclosed that the government requested mutual legal assistance from foreign governments in a bid to recover funds suspected to have been stolen from the devolved units. This calls for the sealing of the loopholes that the crooked staff are using to dip their fingers in the cookie jar.
It is also a reminder to agencies like the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and National Intelligence Service that their work is cut out in the quest to arrest the theft of billions in the counties.
The 2010 Constitution devolved around 20 percent of the budget to 47 new counties, handing them responsibility for healthcare, early education, local roads, and other infrastructure.
The devolved system of government raised hopes of addressing the economic imbalance and fast-track rural development. So far, most of the 47 counties have failed to deliver on their mandate despite receiving hundreds of billions of shillings annually since 2013.
Workers going for months without salaries, hospitals running without essential drugs and collapsing infrastructure are common sights in the counties.
Therefore, the State should double the efforts to end the grand theft of taxes and punish the thieving workers.
Instead, they have confirmed the fears of many that the devolved system of government will decentralize chronic corruption.
