By Mzeee Jirow
When the 2010 Constitution ushered in devolution, many in Northern Kenya saw it as a turning point.
It was a promise of self-determination, service delivery, and a new dawn for historically marginalized communities.
A decade later, however, the region still grapples with deep-rooted governance challenges that threaten to undo the very spirit of devolution.
From Mandera to Turkana, Isiolo to Marsabit, county governments now control billions of shillings in development funds annually.
But ask a villager in Baragoi or a herder in Wajir what governance has changed in their lives, and you’re likely to hear more frustration than progress. The truth is stark: while the money flows, the impact does not.
A Leadership Vacuum
The root of poor governance in Northern Kenya is not a lack of resources. It is a leadership crisis. Most county administrations have become arenas of political patronage, clan-based favoritism, and corruption.
The noble goals of participatory budgeting, public accountability, and inclusive development have been drowned out by elite capture and nepotism.
For example, instead of prioritizing essential services like water access, maternal healthcare, and livestock markets, many county governments have sunk millions into white elephant projects, poorly built roads that disintegrate after one rainy season or ghost hospitals that never open.
Public participation, though constitutionally required, has become a rubber-stamp affair, often stage-managed to legitimize predetermined budgets.
The Cost of Corruption
According to audits by the Office of the Auditor-General, many northern counties rank among the worst in financial accountability.
Inflated procurement deals, unqualified contractors, and dubious allowances for ghost workers are common.
Corruption here doesn’t just bleed coffers; it costs lives. It means a mother in Marsabit walks 30 kilometers to a dispensary that has no medicine.
It means young people languish in joblessness while county payrolls are padded with relatives of senior officials.
This failure of governance perpetuates the region’s vulnerabilities to climate shocks, food insecurity, insecurity, and even radicalization. In areas where governance is weak, opportunism thrives.
Breaking the Clan-Politics Curse
Politics in Northern Kenya remains dangerously clan-driven. Elections are rarely fought over policy or performance but over sub-clan arithmetic.
This has reduced county leadership to a form of rotational appeasement, where merit, experience, and vision are often sacrificed at the altar of “it’s our turn.”
This tribalization of governance weakens institutions. When hiring, contracting, and service delivery become tribal scorecards, the best minds are pushed aside, and mediocrity becomes normalized.
It is high time the people of Northern Kenya, especially the youth, demanded politics based on ideas, not identity.
What Needs to Change
The governance deficit in Northern Kenya can be reversed — but only through a concerted and inclusive effort. This demands more than just political will; it requires grassroots empowerment, institutional integrity, and a shift in how leadership is understood and exercised in the region.
Civic education must become a priority. Many citizens remain excluded from meaningful participation in governance not due to apathy, but due to a lack of accessible information.
When people understand how public resources are allocated, how to track budgets, and how to demand accountability, they are far less likely to be manipulated or ignored.
Equipping communities with knowledge about their rights and responsibilities is the first step toward dismantling the culture of impunity.
Independent oversight institutions must also be reinvigorated. County Assemblies should serve as more than ceremonial extensions of executive power — they must act as watchdogs of public interest.
Elected representatives have a constitutional duty to question, investigate, and hold to account those entrusted with public funds. In tandem, civil society and the media must be allowed to operate freely, without harassment or intimidation.
Investigative journalists and whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing are essential to a healthy democracy and should be protected by both law and public support.
The youth of Northern Kenya, who make up the majority of the population, remain one of the region’s greatest untapped assets. Their potential to lead, innovate, and organize can no longer be sidelined.
Meaningful youth inclusion means more than token appointments — it means supporting young leaders to contest for office, participate in public debates, and influence policy at every level.
A new generation of leaders must be cultivated — one that is informed, visionary, and unafraid to challenge the status quo.
Above all, the region needs a shift toward policy-driven leadership. Governance should not be reduced to ethnic calculations or populist theatrics.
The complex challenges facing Northern Kenya — including climate change, education inequality, insecurity, and digital exclusion — require serious, informed policy responses.
Leaders must be chosen based on the clarity of their plans, their track records, and their commitment to service, not on clan endorsement or personal charisma. Citizens, too, must learn to demand more from those they elect.
Northern Kenya is standing at a critical juncture. Devolution provided the tools for transformation, but the promise remains unfulfilled.
Rebuilding governance in the region is not an impossible task — it begins with an honest reckoning, bold leadership, and active citizenship.
The people of Northern Kenya deserve more than infrastructure. They deserve dignity; not just handouts, but justice.
It is time to match the aspirations of the Constitution with action on the ground — to create a governance system that truly works for the people.
Mzee Jirow is an advocate of good governance, development, and marginalized communities in Kenya.
