Nairobi — ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT have for a long time ignited passion among many Coast leaders has been their desire for the re-introduction of the majimbo (regionalism) system.

Though they have not been alone, their persistent belief since the early Kadu days has been that a federal system would somehow be a panacea for the region's relative under-development.

Yet is this system the solution, and is the existing unitary system the sole reason why some regions are less developed than others?

The main problem here is that those who advocate for majimbo have never explained how to go about establishing it, nor how it would work in an ethnically-polarised country such as Kenya.

Would the states sustain themselves? What if they didn't? How would similar calls within the states themselves be addressed? What would be the role of the national government?

THIS SYSTEM IS MORE COMPLEX than a unitary one, which can enhance our diversity and progress or tear us asunder. This is the fear of most Kenyans, given the realities of our politics.

The US, Canada, Australia, Germany, India, Nigeria and few others have varying shades of federal systems, but the wall of separation, while constitutionally clear, is mostly invisible in practice.

According to a scholar, William Livingstone who wrote a book, The Nations and the States: Rivals or Partners, "Federal governments are not mutually exclusive from the smaller state ones. States being territorially contiguous entities, there are things they cannot do alone but must depend on a large factor of intervention by the higher authority".

In the US, for instance, whereas states have autonomous administrations and other instruments of local power, the federal government collects all its income and corporate taxes directly and takes the lion's share, about 70 per cent. The other 30 per cent is collected by the states and smaller local authorities.

Most of this 70 per cent is ploughed back to the states in the form of infrastructure, education, and healthcare. A similar situation pertains in those other federal nations, and such investments, over the long-haul, are what makes them almost uniformly developed.

Federal governments also give either targeted or block grants to states through carefully crafted parameters such as the specific state's level of revenues, poverty levels, and others.

This is meant partly to offset disparities of the resources each state or region has. This is what the Constituency Development Fund is meant to achieve here.

But in Kenya, such disparities and consequent calls for majimbo, are always politically-inclined. Conveniently forgotten are other salient, economic factors.

For instance, neither Coast, nor Nyanza or Western provinces are resource-poor, but there are high poverty levels. The Coast has the potential to grow bulk export pineapples, mangoes, coconut, palm-oil, sugar, rice, and mangrove timber. It has a whole ocean nearby replete with all manner of marine life. Exploiting these resources should not be the direct role of government; it is the preserve of individual enterprise.

If this is lacking, one cannot expect the Government to compel the locals to exploit the resources whatever facilitation it gives. A state government would not be of much help either.

On the other hand, when coffee and tea farming was introduced to Central Kenya, the locals took them up with gusto, which led to rapid development. This has also happened in parts of Rift Valley and Eastern provinces. Most of Western Kenya is naturally fertile, can grow all manner of produce, and has a huge lake to boot.

THE ONLY AREA THAT SHOULD regard itself as short-changed partly due to nature and partly due to neglect is the north.

Says Livingstone: "Federalism can be cumbersome, duplicatory, and expensive in both money and personnel, but if it helps protect and perpetuate diversities that are highly valued by the constituent peoples, then it serves a useful purpose".

Those who call for majimbo here seem intent on separation, not diversity, even if it means creating unfeasible enclaves.

It may be a blessing in disguise that those regions that can actually run their own states are the ones most opposed to this hazy variety of majimboism.

Mr Ngugi writes on economic and development issues