Global Challenges in Governance Research 2 - Essay Example

Governance Challenges that Poor Countries Face and their Solutions Name: Institutional Affiliation Governance Challenges that Poor Countries Face and their Solutions Introduction Governance refers to the theoretical or conceptual representation that involves co-ordination of the social system and is mainly carried out by the state [Pie11]. Most poor countries face significant governance challenges even years after their independence. This paper is going to determine and analyse the main challenges that most poor countries face and further identify how those challenges can be addressed. We will use Kenya as our reference country since it is ranked by the UNDP as a low human development country as at 2014 statistics [UND14]. Kenya is one of the main giant economies in East Africa and is surrounded by countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea [AFR14]. Kenya is the most developed country in relation the neighbouring countries in East Africa [Wro14]. Kenya also has the highest GDP in the region. However, the country’s main hindrance to development is poor governance. The country has had four presidents since its independence and each administration has been accused of poor governance until the implementation of the new constitution in 2010, which is still taking effect [MwaND]. We are going to analyse the main challenges that Kenya faced in the past and those that it is experiencing at the moment. Some of these challenges include; Centralization, Peace and Stability, Public Administration, Human Rights and Rule of Law, Poor Leaders, and Corruption. Centralization Kenya got independence from the British colonialists in December 1963. After independence, the country adopted a new constitution that changed the country’s system of administration from a devolved system of government to centralized system of government [AFR14]. The centralized system of government implied that the President had exclusive powers and controlled most of the operations in the country. This encouraged imperialism by the top leadership and this brought about incidences such as massive land grabbing in the region, Political assassination of individuals that opposed the bad form of leadership in the country [MwaND]. This made the country lag behind its global competitors who were Singapore and Malaysia then it is important to note that immediately after independence Kenya’s economy could be compared to countries which are perceived to be the richest countries at the moment. However poor governance greatly affected the economy and saw the country’s performance drop significantly. This was mainly attributed to the fact that the system of government didn’t allow equal distribution of resources across the country thus causing development to be unequally distributed across the country. That is why Nairobi which is the country’s capital city experiences larger rural to urban migration despite the country having two other main cities, Mombasa, which is the coastal city and Kisumu City [MwaND]. This form of government encouraged the concentration of resources in the capital city and its environs and forgot the other regions of the country. This challenge is not unique to Kenya alone but to also other African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe [Uni03]. Public Administration Just like other African countries, Kenya was greatly affected by challenges in reform initiatives. The public administration is not operating effectively and thus contributing to the country’s poor performance [Uni03]. Most of the civil servants do not carry out their activities as required, and because of this the services offered to the citizens is below standard. The workforce of the country are the persons that determine the GDP of a country, among other factors [APE06]. Because of this, it is important that the government provides adequate incentives for the civil servants to perform effectively. The government should identify the main cause of the poor performance in the sector so as to be able to come up with proper measures that will ensure the citizens of its country receive the best services [AFR14]. Poor Leaders One of the main route cause of poor governance in Kenya and other poor countries is the choice of leaders that are elected by the people. The reason as to why there is no significant development to date is due to the fact that there the elected leaders do not understand their main role and the main purpose as to why they were elected to the very position [Car11]. Kenyan Leaders are elected after 5 years during the country’s general elections. Most of the leaders that are elected in the parliament are mainly rich individuals that take advantage of the state of poverty in the region so as to bribe their way to the positions [Wro14]. These leaders offer small hand-outs and gifts to their constituents who end up voting for them. After being elected, the leaders only focus on building their own wealth and not serving the people. This is a major hindrance to development because no projects that improve the living standards of individuals are initiated [Wro14]. This has been the trend in the country immediately after independence to date. The type of leader a people elect really matters a lot and determine the path of development that a country should take. The leaders should at all times favour the people and formulate policies that protect the people and enhance development. This cannot be compared to Sweden where developmental leadership is practised. In rich countries such as Sweden, developmental leadership is practised from the privately owned companies, local government and the state [Swe08]. This specific model in Sweden is characterised by a leader acting as a role model and raises question on ethics and moral while observing the core values [Swe08]. A leader who is development focused acts as a source of motivation and inspiration so as to enhance creativity and participation among the people [Swe08]. This is what most African leaders lack since they are self-centred and focus on wealth creation other than serving the people. Corruption Corruption can be defined as the abuse or misuse of public office for the purposes of a private gain. Most poor countries not excluding are greatly affected by corruption [APE06]. The UNDP states that there exists two types of corruption, these include, institutionalized and spontaneous corruption. Spontaneous corruption refers to corruption that is usually found in the societies that mainly observe strong morals and ethics in the public service [APE06]. Institutionalized corruption on the other hand refers to corruption that is mainly found in areas where the corrupt behaviours are perennially pervasive. In these type of societies, corruption has been adopted as a way of life and a goal for most individuals [APE06]. Kenya is one society that experiences institutionalized corruption [APE06]. This is because it has to be offered service in most government offices without offering bribe for services that one is deserves rightfully. The government has turned a blind to most of the incidences of corruption since it has not laid down the important measure which ensure that the corrupt individuals are identified and prosecuted [MwaND]. The country has been faced by serious corrupt incidences. They include; The Goldenberg Scandal where the country lost 210 million dollars and the Anglo leasing scandal where the country lost 30 million Euros [Afr11]. These are just a few of the scandals and corruption deals that have occurred in Kenya and no one has been prosecuted yet [APS10]. This slow action to immunity, encourages other individuals to follow suit. It is important this societal evil is dealt with if proper governance is to be experienced in the poor countries. Peace and Stability Peace and stability is a crucial factor in governance. Most poor countries are characterized with civil strife, wars and other militia activities, that have the effect of the threatening the peace and stability experienced in the regions [Ola14]. There can’t be effective governance where there is no peace and stability. Unlike other African countries, Kenya has only experienced instability once, this is after the 2007 contested election where it was alleged the elections were not carried out fairly and thus brought about division in the country [Yam10]. This conflict that lasted over a month, saw over 1000 lives lost and half a million people displaced in the country. During that time, there was no governance and the police had to deal with the angry youths that kept on demonstrating on the streets and destroying properties [Yam10]. This was a very dark time for a country that had experienced peace since independence. Thus conflict hinders the effective governance and in turn hurts development in a country. Poor countries should always aim at ensuring that there is peace and stability in the region for the greater good of the nation [AFR14]. Human Rights and Rule of Law The persistent lack of respect by the leaders and the citizens for the human rights and rule of law tend to pose a huge challenge to the stability of a nation. The Judiciary in Kenya, just like most poor countries is significantly handicapped inadequate funding and structural differences that exists in the country [Ost13]. As mentioned above, immediately after independence, there were political assassination on those that were deemed to be against the norms of the government. This is a very poor form of governance since in any administration there should be an opposition, that over sees the functioning of the government. Kenya had to wait for 29 years later for it to be a multi-party state. This occurred after section 2 (a) of the old constitution was amended [MwaND]. Solutions to the Challenges The governance issues that Kenya and other poor countries are were faced years before by the already developed nations and thus those are the best countries to emulate so as to ensure that the country recovers from the poor system of governance [ISS11]. This can be achieved by electing leaders carefully, eliminating corruption and initiating reforms and checks and balances in the country. Electing Leaders Carefully It is important the citizens, elect their leaders carefully so that they ensure that they leaders by the basis of their virtue and not based on money. This will go a long way in ensuring they select development focused leader that will promote effective governance. Eliminating Corruption One of the best ways of restructuring governance in the region is through eliminating corruption in the government. The Government has achieved this by establishing the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission hat ensures that any form of corruption is reported and dealt with effectively. However the allegations that body only deals with individuals that have no power and authority and thus leaves the senior leaders of the government. This must be corrected and that the body should act impartially in its operations so as to ensure that Kenya becomes a corruption free country. Thus this type of changes might take some time but will be achieved if properly implemented. Reforms, Checks and Balances Reform measure in the various departments of the public service, should be carried so as to ensure that the public service body become effective and efficient. This can be achieved through the introduction of the performance appraisal system and the checks and balance to ensure that no one has the power to act against the law because of the checks and balances formulated will applied upon them. Not even the president of the nation should be above the law. Thus the checks and balances will enable most of the leaders to be accountable. The Judiciary team in the country should also be a separate arm of the government and act independently so that they cannot be affected by the executive. Conclusion Kenya and poor countries, should strive to improve their form of governance so as to experience significant growth and economic performance. This will only be achieved if the solutions discussed above are effectively implemented. References Pie11: , (Pierre, 2011), UND14: , (UNDP, 2014), AFR14: , (AFRICAN UNION, 2014), Wro14: , (Wrong, 2014), MwaND: , (Mwaruvie, N.D), Uni03: , (United Nations, 2003), APE06: , (APEC, 2006), Car11: , ( Carothers & Gramont, 2011), Swe08: , (Swedish National Defence College, 2008), Afr11: , (Africog, 2011), APS10: , (APSEA, 2010), Ola14: , (Olaniyan, 2014), Yam10: , (Yamano, et al., 2010), Ost13: , (Ostman, 2013), ISS11: , (ISS, 2011), Read More