Kenya’s most celebrated literary guru Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o has urged leaders to connect with people in a bid to make devolution work.
Speaking at Kisii University on Monday during the much publicised public lecture, Prof Ngugi said devolution risks crumbling if leaders engaged in war of words and failed to connect with people on the ground.
He said the decentralisation of power was welcome, since it brought development to the grassroots, but raised critical questions regarding public participation.
“I am happy that most functions were devolved and this is what we have been waiting since independence. However, I am really concerned with the rate at which leaders are losing touch with people. They have failed to recognise that power belongs to people and this means we may experience what happened at independence,” he said.
He urged governors and MCAs to safeguard devolution by respecting the will of the people, besides urging them to be accountable by embracing public participation.
“What we mean by devolution is bringing resources near to people, but accountability is also a key factor here. Governors and MCAs have a mandate to ensure this good idea succeeds,” he added.
He urged the middle class to help safeguard culture by promoting local languages, which he said risked extinction due to the substantial ignorance in safeguarding culture.
“The middle class should ensure indigenous language is protected to get local people connected. Many of us have forgotten the power of language hence making it easy to lose touch with majority at the local level,” he added.