North Eastern Devolution Impact Survey Report
Background Information
Kenya adapted a new constitution on August 2010 through which some roles of the national government were decentralized to county governments. Because of the new constitution, Kenya established 47 county governments. Three of these are in the former Northern Frontier Districts (NFD). They are Garissa (007), Wajir (county 008) and Mandera (009). In total, the three counties sit on 127,358.5 km2 arid land where close to 98% of its residents are Somalis. The new system of governance came with unprecedented merits in the distribution of the national budget. In North Eastern Kenya, the three counties of Garissa, Mandera and Wajir received close to Kshs 70 billion. No doubt, the region has received hitherto elusive development under devolution. While some people believe enough was achieved, others are of the opinion that much more could have been done.
Governor Ahmed Abdullahi headed Wajir as the governor for the first time while Mr Nathif Jamaa as Garissa and Captain Ali Roba as the governor for Mandera since March 4 2013. The three governors whose term is ending on 8 August 2017 are vying for their second term in office.
In an effort to assess the impact of devolution in Wajir, Mandera and Garissa, CentRep Ltd in collaboration with NEP Journal conducted an online-survey. Nep Journal hosted the survey. It was also available on other platforms (like Facebook groups’ pages) through a web-link for a maximum of 30 days.
Survey Methodology and Design
The survey used quantitative research method to reduce complexity. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. Then a web link to the online questionnaire accompanied by guidelines for the respondents were then shared on Nep Journal News media platform. In each of the three counties, 250 persons were listed from which 50 were randomly selected. The sample frame was obtained using snowball sampling where primary subjects of five individuals were taken from each of the five main communities in each of the counties. Primary subjects were then asked to identify 10 individuals from their communities making up to a sample frame of 250 individuals. Some of these primary subjects were obtained from social media while friends of the lead researcher identified others. Primary individuals identified using social were contacted form verification of their origin.
Sampling Design
From the 250 persons identified by the primary subjects in each of the county CentRep Ltd randomly selected 50 from each County. Contacts of the selected individuals were gathered through the sampling frame subjects and were contacted for verification. Afterwards, a web link to the survey was sent to them for their access. A different communication was made with the selected respondents including guidelines on how to participate the survey and submit answer. Participants were asked to take oath that they will not share the survey with others.
Characteristics of the Respondents
One hundred and fifty (150) respondents responded to the survey with age of 27 years. Eighty percent of the survey respondents were male.
Main Findings
Generally, devolution has impressed residents of North Eastern Counties. Northern residents have revealed that devolution has made life relatively easy. As was reported by 73% of the survey respondents, North Eastern Counties are now better places to live in than they were before. According to the survey respondents, the CG of Garissa has satisfied residents by making Garissa a better place to live in. Wajir follows and Mandera is third last. Respondents from Garissa have unanimously stated that Garissa is a better place to live in now compared to Wajir (73%) and Mandera (65%). However, 90% of the survey respondents revealed that the county governments should have done better; they expected more from county governments than they realized. In regards to that, on average, 66% of the respondents revealed their county government is headed the change they anticipated with devolution. Residents from Mandera have lowest level (29%) of perception that their county government is headed towards that direction while Garissa residents have the highest level (92%). Sixty six percent (66%) of Wajir people have a similar perception. This implies that a second term for the current governors is needed to enable them finalize their development agendas.
Since county governments started, operating in the counties introduced availability and accessibility of services improved in the three counties according to 83% of the survey respondents. Wajir County has the lowest percentage of respondents of 80% followed by Mandera with 89% and Garissa 96%. In education, respondents revealed that county governments have done supported students in both tertiary and secondary schools with bursaries. County governments have also done better in early childhood education and employment of tutors in such levels of education. In regards to livelihoods, respondents mentioned support for youth in providing start up capitals for small-scale business as well as youth employment both in short term as well as permanent jobs in the county government.
Survey respondents have as well clarified that more health facilities have been constructed in the rural areas and have been equipped. However, most of the health centers and posts are now under-staffed despite more nurses being employed by the county health departments. In the three counties, accessibility to passable roads has been enabled. In Wajir, the county government tarmacked close to 28-kilometers of roads within the county headquarters while in Mandera and Garissa, more murram roads have been constructed.
Development and Public Participation
Public participation is a benchmark route towards social growth and development. Administrations that engage public enjoy an upper hand support from their communities. In praising public participation, respondents define development process as a bottom up process. Sixty percent (60%) of the participants stated that public participation is necessary for meaningful achievements. In that regard, respondents justified that public participation will definitely help administrators prioritize development needs of their subjects. Survey respondents narrated that public participation enhances public trust and confidence, enhances accountability and promotes efficiency. Similarly, public participation also enhances sense of ownership in areas such as budgetary allocation processes, educates the public about the system of administration and creates public awareness. Respondents finally justified that public participation enables communities to monitor and at end take part in the evaluation of the development processes. Having said that respondents have revealed low levels of public participation in their respective counties. Thirty three percent (33%) of the survey respondents stated that their county governments have engaged the public and they have history of an activity where their county government involved the public. Wajir government has done well in public participation among the three counties.
Low knowledge level among locals about how a county government functions is the leading justification for the low public participation. As was reported, 51% of the respondents have illustrated that lack of knowledge about how their county government operates is a considerate limitation to their participation. The fact that the new devolution is just five years old and not many people are knowledgeable of how they operate, there is need to carryout public education on how an ideal county government should function. On average, only 54% of the survey respondents revealed that they understand how their county government operates (relationship between different arms or departments of county government and how to operate). Mandera is leading with 59% followed by Garissa 56% and Wajir with 47%.
Besides lack of or low level of knowledge, respondents have mentioned other factors that have limited their low public participation levels. Survey respondents (89%) have blamed their county government for purposely selecting a few among them to participate in county government activities. On the same note, 90% of the respondents revealed that their county governments do not make their activities public.
Identification of Development Needs
In an ideal scenario, development needs are supposed to be determined through a public forum where community members can list the most pressing needs they have in the absence of a needs assessment survey by the local administration. Alternatively, political leaders can organize community representative forum to determine and development needs where most frequent needs can be prioritized on. The contemporary situation in the three counties of Wajir, Mandera and Garissa is different. It is quite clear that there is common or most practiced method of needs identification besides the low public participation. Needs identification methods are numerous among the three counties.
Some of the listed methods used include needs identification in community-organized forums which are then submitted to member of county assembly for review and approval at the county assembly (24%) and collaboration between youth, community elders and MCA. needs Respondents have stated that their development needs are identified by of which 67% are comfortable with the method they mentioned.
Dealing with Corruption
With the increased poverty among the community members living in three counties, corruption is a major setback to development of the region that is trying to make ends meet. Great to note is the fact 83% of the survey respondents revealed that they would report a corrupt employee of their county government or misappropriation of public funds. More so, it is also relevant to note that North Easterners are informed of the corruption reporting procedures as 84% of the respondents stated they report corruption to the Kenya Anti-corruption Office in their respective office and the police (63%). The fact low percentage of the respondents have revealed that they will report to political leaders such as the governor (18%), their area MP (12%) and MCA (19%) is also a milestone outcome as politicians would most likely cover up for corrupt persons.
Regional Growth and Development
Somali is the predominant community in the former North Eastern Kenya. According to a UN study in 2010, Somalis were ranked the poorest together with Luo-Nyanza population. Also, in the 2014 Economic Survey, North Eastern Counties (Mandera and Wajir) have a higher poverty indexes of above 80%. With devolution in place, people from North Eastern Kenya expected that their county governments would put in place strategies that could avert this status. Luckily, there is hope at the end of the tunnel as 67% of the survey respondents have reported that their county governments have put in place initiatives to address poverty that forms major part of the central force holding back the determination and subsequent efforts of the youths to realize their dreams and missions. Besides employment among youths, respondents have revealed that their county government have put in place some other initiatives that can support youths overcome poverty. However, entrepreneurship-trainings for youth and financing youths through contracts have scored low in the three counties.
Despite the great achievements recorded by respondents in fighting poverty among youths by the county governments, respondents have identified corruption and nepotism as a major limitation to reliable success in that agenda.
Other Limitations to Fighting Poverty Youths
- No Funds Allocated
- It is very hard for youths to access allocated funds
- Some youths are favored frequently over others
- Corruption and nepotism
- Insufficient county government budget
- There a few youths who come up with entrepreneurship ideas
- Greed and extreme desire for wealth among the youths
Most Focused Areas
Counties in the former North Eastern Kenya have a number of development gaps that should be addressed. Since Kenya gained her independence, subsequent governments have done nothing significant to align the marginalized community with the rest of the country. In most of the areas in the region, accessibility to basic needs such as basic health care services, safe drinking water and basic education for children is hardly a possible. For instance, as of 2014[2], the 72.9% of the people in North Eastern Kenya were in the lowest wealth quantile. This implies that individuals lack access to basic needs such as safe drinking water, basic sanitation facilities and adequate housing. With terror attacks frequent in the region, due to un-manned and porous border with Somalia, Somali school going children in North Eastern Kenya suffered a lot in 2016 when teachers fled for their lives following subsequent attacks on no-Somali residents in the area. The worst attacked hit Garissa University College on April 2015.
With that background, CentRep Ltd focused on finding out the developmental areas that county governments focused on. In respective to this survey, accessibility to water both in urban and rural areas, health care services, basic education and roads form the most pressing needs among locals in North Eastern Kenya. In this regard, county governments have tried their best to handle these menaces despite the short-term period and nature of the political environment they worked in. With devolution being a new system of governance, with its own confusion and lack of clarity the three governors (especially Wajir and Garissa) have done their best.
It is quite clear that three governors of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera did their best to tackle persistent developmental needs: poverty, education and care services. Survey respondents (65%) have revealed that their county governments have focused on drilling of boreholes within and out-skirts of their counties to support agro-pastoralism activities to address persistent poverty. This initiative can address water scarcity in the rural areas where persistent drought has crippled pastoralism: the lifeline of Somalis in Northern Kenya. In addition, survey respondents (61%) have reported that county governments have supported local students in secondary and tertiary institutions with bursaries. Education and health faculty students are the most beneficiaries. This initiative can seal lack of local capacity in education and health in the next five to ten years. Tarmacking and gravelling of county roads is also another focused area according to 69% of the survey respondents. Wajir County government leads in infrastructure development. In its five years term, Wajir County has managed 25-kilometers of the county roads mainly in the county headquarters.
Survey respondents have also set direction for the next CGs. Supporting agro-pastoralism and entrepreneurship support to youth should be the most focused development area according to 78% of the survey respondents. Survey respondents have also expressed reduced interest of focus on tarmacking of or gravelling of roads should be the least focused areas in the next county governments. Thirteen percent less survey respondents have advised the next administrations to give higher priority to tarmacking roads. This is in line with the previous surveys that indicated poverty and reduced accessibility to basic needs are the major concerns of residents in North Kenya. Survey respondents have requested the next administrations to put more efforts on supporting education sector that has been crippled by various disasters including lack of local capacity. Respondents have advised the next administrations to support more local students in tertiary and secondary schools with bursaries.
Ranking
In this regard, respondents were asked to rate the performance of their county government among the 47 counties in the country. Thirty three percent (33%) of the respondents from Garissa have revealed that they would put their county in top three while only 7% of Wajir respondents would put their county in top three. Most of the respondents opted to place their county government on an average scale with Mandera leading with 82% followed by Wajir with 60% and Garissa 22%.
Conclusion
Despite the new system of governance, which appeared as strange to entire country due to its complexity, the three county governors have performed fairly. Given that the three governors have a better understanding of the new system, re-electing them will, possibly, going to help the northern region come at par with the region of the country. According to the survey respondents, the counties are now better place to live in than they were before devolution came into effect. As survey respondents reported to some extent, availability and accessibility of basic services is relatively easier now.
The county governors have also tried to address perennial problems that have affected the pastoral communities. For instance in Wajir and Garissa, the county governments have drilled boreholes in the rural areas where water scarcity has been a problem.