Devolution, Democracy and Development in Kenya
In this study, Cornell and D’Arcy explore to what extent devolution has changed Kenyan politics – what progress has been made and what challenges still remain? Although the devolution is in many ways successful and much progress has been made already, the authors highlight a number of critical areas in need of further attention. First, the devolved institutions lack institutional protection at the national level. The Kenyan Council of Governors is in need of more support and resources to be able to act as a guardian of the devolution. Second, there should be a more active approach to include ethnic minorities in policy processes.
Third, party capacity needs to be strengthened in order to fulfil the development of democratic practices in local elections. Fourth and final, the authors point out the recurrent patterns of patronage that exists and argue in favor of a shift towards more investments in public goods and programmatic policies. These areas play an important role in reaching the goals of stability and development in Kenya. This study should be read by anyone especially interested in Kenyan politics or devolution processes in general.