The Governance Model of Kenya - Essay Example

Name: Topic: Governance Challenges and solutions Institution: Date of submission: Instructor Governance challenges and solutions The origin of the word governance is Greek word, Kybernan that means to steer, pilot or direct. The word finds its application in many activities. During the age of Elizabeth, it was common to hear individuals in England talking about the family governance. Today, many individuals use the word corporate governance to mean management as well as control of the companies (Keating, 2010) or commonly how to govern individual organizations and many nations across the globes. Kenya faces the challenge of economic weakness that is harmful to development. Economic vulnerability impairs as well as inhibits both the growth as well as development. This paper will address the governance challenges in Kenya and how to address these challenges. Most third world countries face governance issues. Kenya like many other developing countries faces governance challenges that require immediate attention. In March 2013, the Jubilee government came into power. Prior to the election, the present president, Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and his deputy were facing crimes against humanity charges (Wrong, 2014). The cases stem from the post-election violence of 2007-2008. Although the president termed this as a personal challenge, it turned up to be a national problem. In Kenya, provision of public service is faced by inefficiency, corruption as well as lacks patronage. Burgeoning corruption remain one of the main challenges facing governance in Kenya (Wrong, 2014). In order to meet all its expenses, the government receives 27% of the revenues from the donor. Despite this, the tone of the envoy receives a cold shoulder from the corrupt government officials. Wherever a diplomat tries to talk about corruption in Kenya, government officials and the elected leaders shut them up. Such utterances hampered meaningful progress in the war against corruption. At one point, the envoys spoke about the nation’s level of corruption (Wrong 2014). The local newspaper, “The Daily Nation” termed this as, and I quote, “feeble bangs with mild stroke”. Many readers wondered why the publication of the story occurred in the first place. The administration of the day had dissimilar views. Public Service Head, Francis Kimemia made sermons to the envoys, scolding them. The press office of President Kenyatta accused them (envoys) of being disrespectful and liberal racists (Wrong, 2014). For Kenya to move forward as a nation, there is a need to address corruption. The war against corruption should entail all sectors of the economy working together. Kenya, for instance, relies on EACC to fight corruption yet there are other bodies with a critical role in fighting corruption (Wrong, 2014). There is a need to incorporate all ministries and institutions of the government, civil societies and religious groups, as well as individual citizens (Pierre 2000). There is a need to empower Kenyan citizens as the custodians of ethical obligation. It is important for citizens to abstain from giving bribes in exchange of services. Voter bribery is a common practice in Kenya whereby politicians give money to the voters during the election period to lure them. In order to avoid this, civil education for citizens is necessary they should be empowered on the importance of choosing leaders on performance basis (Wrong 2014). Politics affects service provision as both governance and politics form a link. A citizen experiences both the states and politics on a daily basis through the received services. In Kenya for instant, politics influences the type of service that residents receive in an individual area. There is urgency for reforms to show committed the government is to its citizens’ welfare (Peters, 2012). Both ethics and anti-corruption commission of Kenya, as well as the media, should revise the way they have been reporting issues of corruption. They should give report corruption issues in a manner that will help the individuals committing fraud to change their attitude. Corruption cases prosecution should be visible, swift, concerted and appropriately reported (Thimphu 2011). Although corruption should attract punishment, there is a need to celebrate instances of success. There is a need to enhance all sectors of the government with ICT so that there is a reduction of encounter between the state and the individual. This will limit chances of occurrence of corrupt practices (Nellis, 2006). There is a need to add muscle to the moral fiber of Kenya ensure that the war against corruption is won. The Kenyan government should not take wine when preaching water. It should be in the forefront in fighting corruption. Instead of passing bills that favor them, parliamentarian should instead focus on passing law that will facilitate in fighting corruption, and that facilitates good governance (Peters, 2012). All government ministries should be willing to cooperate with the Anticorruption body (EACC). The state should hold all police officers as well as state institutions, accountable for their corrupt actions. Currently, EACC is underfunded, and this makes its work difficult. The government should increase financial as well as public support for the organization to ensure that the agency is efficient in performing its tasks. Giving the anti-corruption authority to prosecute cases of corruption is vital. In addition, strengthening anti-corruption laws should increase their efficacy should be one of the roles of the government. One of the essential democracy aspects is public participation (Keating 2010). The education sector, the media, religious groups, and civil societies play a great role in informing the citizens about corruption and other poor governance issues (Peters, 2012). In their part, citizens become angry and shun from all corrupt ways and at the same time air their views on how governance should occur (Pierre, 2000). There is an urgency to publish more information for instance, wages of public sector. This will foster the accountability and public scrutiny culture. Although the anti-corruption agency has been in existence for a long time, many Kenyans are not aware of its existence. The agency has a duty of making itself more visible all over the nation. The agency should also ensure that it is auguring the security as well as the anonymity of the individuals reporting corrupt acts. Poor governance has been the main reason the government cannot deliver the promises of MDGS (MDGs, 2014). Both governance and politics have a direct relationship. Until recently, there were no mid-range theoretical tools for ensuring that this relationship does exist (Keating 2010). Kenya like many other developing countries lacks the political will that is crucial to good governance and development. Policy makers receive incentives from political institutions to provide services both at street and state level. In developing nations, there has been little or incentives for policy makers. Consequently, it is vital for the government to provide these incentives to allow proper delivery of services. This will allow for better service delivery. Both the street-level and elite service providers should be accountable. This will help them improve their service delivery (Diedhiou, 2007). Accountability systems such as EAACC are necessary in this case. International agencies, for instance, The World Bank and International Monetary Funds should be more vigilant when it comes to management of its resources (Diedhiou, 2007). This way, the government would be responsible on how it uses funds from these institutions. Accountability can either be a top down or bottom up. It is significant for the government to put measures whereby responsibility will flow from the government to politicians and from politicians all the way to the citizens (MDGs, 2014). Another governance challenge that the country faces is privatization as well as globalization. Both privatization and globalization go hand in hand and have taken a big stride since the start of 1980s. Globalization means making public enterprises private, and public sector is shrinking by expanding private sector (Tapscott, 2012). It also entails reducing the role of government in the economy as well as the society to the role of maintaining laws as well as orders. Globalization is both dangerous and a threat to the sovereignty of the nation (Pierre, 2000). It leads to dependency on trans-national capital, potential or actual loss of the capacity of the leaders as well as local citizens to make sovereign policy decision. In addition, there is a loss of competitive nature of the world economies (Farazmand, 1999). In developing nations such as Kenya, globalization is the new way of colonization because there is an influx of transnational corporations (Nellis, 2006). If cautions are not taken, global corporations will dictate Kenyan economy. The economy will become export-oriented where there will be more emphasis of growth and not development (Batley & Larbi, 2004). Presently, Kenya hosts several large global companies such as Toyota Kenya, Isuzu, Del Monte among others. There is a perceived stagnation in economic growth has been slow and owing to this, the country is depended on foreign companies and capital to sustain it. World Bank, for instance, has invested heavily in the government. In total, the bank spent $200 billion to ensure that there is a promotion of marketization and privatization of enterprises that are public in countries that are developing. Instead of empowering the citizens and the national economy, much of this money end up empowering the elite group. Globalization does not only affect developing countries but also developed nations such as U.S.A (Nellis, 2006). Any nation that tries to resist globalization as well as privatization faces political and economic sanctions by world governments namely WTO, IMF, and WB. These governments get directions from transnational corporations as well as globalizing states (Murphy, 2010). Other consequences of privatization include increasing family disintegration and social problems. Communities lose autonomy as well as freedom due to global capital. Conversely, globalization has created more problems than solutions its desired purpose. They include recession, depression, job loss, homelessness, poverty, and unemployment. There are several ways to solve the problem of privatization (Murphy, 2010). The Civil society, as well as the state, have a role to play in curbing privatization problem. One of the best ways to solve globalization problem is the use of cooperative systems. This is the most the most effective and efficient method of tackling globalization problem. Reforms for management of public enterprises are essential. Prior to the emergence of mass privatization, many nations had made progress in reforming public enterprises. The World Bank was at the forefront in making supporting these changes. Patience loss by global forces contributed to the lack of changes in many public enterprises (Farazmand, 1999). There is however, room for public improvements. If there is the resumption of these reforms in Kenya, there is need to equip managers of public business with transparency, accountability, responsiveness, and effectiveness, efficiency, and responsibility skills. Both the government and the private enterprises should cultivate a culture that promotes dutiful and respectful treatment of populaces. In addition, it is important to view the inhabitants of Kenya as human beings as well as partners in the management of enterprises (Nellis, 2006). There is also a need to reduce a situation where individuals as well as the values of these individuals become the subject of commodification. National, local economies as well as community values will experience promotion when the desirable changes are present. There is a need to involve members of the community in public enterprise management as well as in power sharing. Apart from that, there is a need to protect cultures of the local communities as well as their traditions against globalization avalanches and its culture of corporation. Small businesses that are indigenous in nature must receive strong support from the government and the citizens. In order to curb corruption, the government should introduce the concept of participatory budgeting (He, 2011). In China for instance, public budgeting is a tool for curbing corruption, improving the effectiveness of administration, and enhance the capacity of the state. It also finds its use in incorporating management, narrowing contestation and expanding participation. Public budgeting is vital to good governance, as it will allow for allocation of more funding to projects that will benefit the citizens. In order to achieve this, the Kenyan government should introduce budgetary reforms whereby the budget would be open for public scrutiny. The budget should be all-inclusive to ensure that there is transparency. Public budgeting reforms aim at developing a modern system of finances, improving the efficacy of policy, and developing a budgeting process that is more transparent (Batley & Larbi, 2004). Kenyan government should adopt this type of budgeting as it aims at meeting the needs of the Kenyan citizens. Public budgeting is necessary because it can generate the interest of the citizens (He, 2011). In conclusion, Developing countries are continuously looking for a better way of governance (Batley & Larbi, 2004). Today there is an absence of unanimity on the meaning of governance in both policy and academic circle. The only way to understand good governance is through interaction (Wollenberg et al., 2006). Good governance propels economic growth of any nation. Politics play a central role in explaining the extensive public services under-provision in poor countries. Both governance and politics have a significant effect on public services performance in poor countries. Many governments across the world do govern using hierarchical control. In Kenya for instance, there is hierarchal implementation of monetary policy, security, and defense by the government. The government should employ several governance strategies for example, building a relationship with its citizens, state agencies, and civil society groups (Wollenberg et al., 2006). These relations are vital for ensuring that there is good governance. Bibliography BATLEY, R., & LARBI, G. A. (2004). The changing role of government: the reform of public services in developing countries. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. HE, B. (2011). Civic engagement through participatory budgeting in China: Three different logic at work. Public Administration and Development. 31, 122-133. KEATING, B. M. (2010). 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