Kalamba fruit processing plant,a project initited by Makueni County government.

Kalamba fruit processing plant,a project initiated by Makueni County government.Photo:Facebook.

Devolution in Kenya is still in its formative stages, two years to be precise, and although there have been challenges in the implementation of the process, most counties have made remarkable strides.

However, some counties have had teething problems with incessant wrangles between the governors and Members of the County Assemblies (MCAs) being one of the main challenges that has adversely affected devolution. The frosty relationships between the two arms of government in these counties have led to poor service delivery due to the time and energy wasted on the wrangling.

Makueni, is certainly one of the counties that have witnessed persistent infighting between the Governor Kivutha Kibwana and MCAs. For the last two years, the county has been on the limelight for all the wrong reasons, thanks to the endless bickering of the county leaders.

Although the squabbling may have painted a grim picture on the status of devolution in the county, according to the governor, not all is lost and devolution has undoubtedly made a remarkable impact on the lives of Makueni residents.

During the devolution conference held last week in Kisumu, Governor Kivutha said devolution had taken resources to the doorsteps of the common man and has since taken to social media to highlight some of the developments that his government has achieved for the last two years.

In his official Facebook page the governor said, “Even with the critical budget crisis posed by our MCA’S, 2 years down the road, my government has had tremendous and tangible achievements for the people of Makueni.”

The governor enumerated acquisition of 12 ambulances, construction of the Yikisemei Primary School, Kikima dairy, Kalamba fruits processing plant, Kaiti sand dam, employment of early childhood teachers, among others as some of the projects that his government has initiated.

However, the governor’s sentiments did not go well with some of the residents who accused him of using the MCAs as his scapegoat for his poor development track record.

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kis4Some were even blatant and stated that they had never seen any of the achievements.

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Others were utterly disappointed and called for a more comprehensive report on the projects that the governor had initiated.

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But there are those who extolled the governors achievements despite the wrangling.

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His supporters promised to rally behind him and put to shame his detractors.

kis8From the above comments, it is clear that although the residents of Makueni have had a taste of devolution, more could have been achieved if the leaders had agreed to work together.