By M X Muriuki
“What insane logic is it for Kenya with a population of 50 million people to have 47 governors…. we are over represented. Imagine California, a state with 40 million people, has one governor and one senator……punda amechoka.”- The foregoing statement is PURE SCAM! Here is why;
You may have seen the above statement or a variation of the same on social media in recent days. It is important to engage in constant and healthy debate and to challenge conventional thinking and wisdom. A society gets better when citizens confront their biggest fears and are willing to right wrongs of their own making
Our biggest fear as a country right now is wastage of resources by public servants, well except for those guilty of the pilferage. Do I think we are over represented? No. The undoing is that most of those holding elective posts have a fetish for misappropriating public funds.
However, I do not think the Kenya-Californa comparison carries any weight.
California has one governor (Jerry Brown), and 2 senators (Kamala Harris and Diane Feinstein). In addition, the state has 53 congressional districts which translates to 53 representatives to congress.
Isitoshe; at state level, the legislature of California comprises a Senate consisting of 40 State Senators who are elected for a maximum of two four-year terms and an Assembly of 80 members.
And there is more.
California has 58 counties (Let that sink in. Kenya has only 47….uu riiii). There are two types of counties: 44 General Law Counties and 14 Charter Counties. The difference is in the power to hire and fire county elected officials.
Who runs the county? Counties are governed by an elected five-member Board of Supervisors. The five then appoint executive officers to manage the diverse functions of the county. And it gets complicated because San Francisco has an eleven-member Board of Supervisors.
Halafu
California has 482 municipalities. I will let you do the math on the number of mayors and vice-mayors.
Then, there are the school districts that provide public education. Each county had a board of education and a superintendent that oversee school districts within the county. California has about 1,102 school districts.
The elective posts are endless.
Finally, democracy is by the majority, they say. Kiambu has a population of about 2 million people. Kirinyaga has a population of about 600,000 people. Each county is represented by one Senator. Is this fair to the people of Kiambu?
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