Kenya: Oparanya best performing governor, survey shows

Kakamega's Wycliffe Oparanya has been named as the best performing governor in a survey where residents rated their leaders. The study by Infortrak Research and Consulting considered the performance of governors for the 2019-2020 period with Kiambu getting the lowest rating.

Oparanya, who is serving his second and last term will certainly have his political ambitions boosted by the study having previously indicated his intention to run for a bigger political office. Oparanya, who also chairs the Council of Governors, had a mean score of 82.3 per cent. He was followed by Kwale's Salim Mvurya (77.1 per cent) and Makueni's Kivutha Kibwana (74.4 per cent). Mvurya and Kibwana are also serving their final terms. Kibwana has already indicated that he will run for the presidency in 2022.

Makueni county was ranked as the most improved devolved unit having jumped from position 40 in 2015 to third in this year's rating. Kisumu’s Anyang’ Nyong’o came fourth, Alfred Mutua of Machakos fifth, John Longangapuo of West Pokot sixth and Uasin Gishu's Jackson Mandago seventh. Muthomi Njuki (Tharaka Nithi), Josphat Nanok (Turkana) and Bomet's Hillary Barchok closed the top 10 list. Kakamega remained the best overall performing county even in terms of delivery of services.

It was also ranked the best with a score of 57.4 per cent followed by Kwale (54.8 per cent) and Makueni (54.7 per cent). Residents rated the performance of their counties in agriculture, health and education sectors. Kisumu was fourth (53.4 per cent), Uasin Gishu fifth with a rating of 53.1 per cent and West Pokot sixth at 52.7 per cent. Elgeyo Marakwet followed at 51.2 per cent. Tana River was the second worst-performing county with a score of 39.5 per cent followed by Wajir at 41.3 per cent and Isiolo at 42 per cent). In the Agriculture sector, Kakamega emerged the best followed by West Pokot, Makueni, Bungoma and Uasin Gishu.

Kwale came first in education flooring Kakamega, West Pokot, Makueni, Uasin Gishu, Vihiga, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kisumu, Bungoma and Lamu. Overally, Turkana and Kisumu were among the most improved counties in terms of service delivery. Turkana was ranked 16th having improved from position 42 in 2015. Kusumu came fourth having jumped from position 27. The biggest droppers were Taita Taveta which fell to positon 36 after ranking nine in 2015. Samburu dropped to 44 from 21 and Homa Bay from 18 to 39.

Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal scored 38.7 per cent to become the second-worst performer followed by Homa Bay's Cyprian Awiti (41.3 per cent) and Nyamira's John Nyagarama (42.5 per cent). Infotrak Research and Consulting said the CountyTrak Performance Index was designed with the core objective of ascertaining residents’ assessment on the performance of their county governments against key performance indicators.

Infotrak Research and Consulting said it conceptualised and funded the study.

The objective was to ascertain county residents assessment of the performance of their governments against set performance indicators in agriculture, health and education. The study also sought to develop a county residents’ scorecard on the performance of their governments and to get a sense of the perception of the customers on whether the mode of service has improved over time.

It said the majority of people have had extremely high expectations for their regional governments since the onset of devolution in 2013. The situation has not changed even after the second election of governors in 2017.

The CountyTrak Index tool consisted of 12 functions with 33 key performance indicators and five approval rating questions. The poll was conducted between October 2019 and January 2020. The overall sample was 37,600 and the data was collected through Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews.

The report shows, a current subscriber base of 33 million and mobile penetration of 82.6 provided an excellent opportunity for the adoption of technology in data collection.

The key performance indicators for agriculture included ensuring there is proper management of livestock diseases, making it easy for farmers to rear and sell their livestock or fish, making it easy for farmers to grow and sell their crops, making food more accessible and affordable, ensuring there are enough facilities for the care and burial of domestic animals and ensuring the proper licensing of dogs.

In education, the survey asked whether counties had ensured there are enough nursery schools/Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres, ensured needy, vulnerable and gifted/talented children in the country receive bursaries fairly and ensuring there are enough village polytechnics/county technical training institutes.

In the health sector, it looked at whether counties had made it easier to get affordable medical treatment, ensured there is information on how to stay healthy, ensured health concerns are handled satisfactorily and whether there are adequate sanitation facilities.

The study concluded it was challenging to compare the counties given they had unique advantages and disadvantages that may be decades old, including the presence of natural resources and political marginalisation.

It added that opinion leaders from the counties that are perceived to either be marginalised or predominantly rural expressed reservation in their residents' ability to fully comprehend and understand the devolved functions.

The introduction of technology in data collection was met with skepticism both from some respondents who found the telephone interviews strange and the general public who are yet to fully understand how the automation works, the report says.