They have been proudly displaying their mugshots all over the newspaper pages, announcing the dates of their enthronement and where it will happen.
Unfortunately, many of their predecessors didn’t keep the faith and the result was the dilution of the spirit of devolution and the explosion of the “eating” habit.
Quite simply, many of the past governors let their constituents down in ways that couldn’t have been contemplated by the framers of the Constitution.
Consequently, few counties actually work the way they were supposed to.
On Thursday, we celebrated the third wave of elected governors, during which 45 of them were sworn in, 30 of whom are new on the job.
Of this, seven are women, which is a significant improvement from five years ago when only three were deemed fit to run the counties.
It is not exactly the gender equity prescribed in the Constitution, but it will go a long way in assuring ordinary women that it is possible to win such contests.
As the executive head of a county, a governor wields enormous powers that can only be checked by members of the county assembly.
These ward representatives are supposed to be familiar with the developmental needs of their constituents; the fact that an overwhelming number of them think their most important role is to attend meetings in posh resorts where they collect handsome allowances or to fight for useless “benchmarking” trips abroad, must mean they regard the public office as a political sinecure.
Semi-literate councillor types
Indeed, from experience, their most frequently cited quarrels with governors arose when they were denied a chance to “earn” money they did not deserve.
But the situation is changing and today, MCA seats are no longer the preserve of semi-literate councillor types who can afford to buy them even when they have no idea what to do with them.
Indeed, this position is turning out to be more consequential than initially thought, which is good for devolution.
A governor has specific duties, which involve implementing county-specific development projects and appointing county executive committee members who help in formulating policy.
Of course, such committees can only implement those functions that are devolved, including agriculture, provision of water and sanitation and protection of the environment.
They are also supposed to build and maintain access roads.
The most visible ventures so far are the modern markets that many counties have built, a great help to rural farmers, urban traders and even hawkers.
They have also built hospitals and health centres where none existed before, as well as ensuring that vital drugs are available.
Needless to say, although it doesn’t sound like the most glamorous of jobs, governors possess the “power to do good” so long as they know what they are supposed to do and when.
Unfortunately, it is a political job as well. As we have seen in the recent past, it does not matter how visionary you are as a governor if your election or re-election depends on what political party you belong to.
For instance, in my view, former Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi was a very resourceful individual who ran his county creatively.
However, he was summarily run out of town because he stuck to his party at a time when the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) wave was at its fiercest in the Mt Kenya region.
The same thing happened to former Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui.
Though he was never accused of stealing from the county purse like many of his colleagues and is said to have got on well with members of every ethnic community in this cosmopolitan county, he could not keep his job.
Mr Kiraitu Murungi, a veteran politician and second liberation fighter, could not withstand the UDA wave either, and though he lost to an independent candidate – who later jumped to UDA – his association with the discredited Jubilee administration was his undoing.
Gravy train
If you had any doubt that a governor’s position has features that are attractive to ambitious politicians, ask those few who at first thought a senator was a lot more powerful.
They soon got disabused of the notion, and while some are ready for the job, others have just jumped into the gravy train.
Although voters have always placed high hopes on their governors, there have been countless instances of perfidy and very little punishment; none of those suspected of stealing millions from public coffers ever faced jail terms.
At the risk of sounding bloody-minded, it is highly possible that those chaps whose swearing-in we celebrated on Thursday will faithfully follow in the footpaths of their unworthy predecessors.
But let them be warned; very soon, it may no longer be business as usual, for voters are now a lot more knowledgeable about their expectations.
Kenyans don’t need a new batch of eating chiefs but whether they will send the newly-minted robbers packing is another issue altogether.
We seem to love our would-be statesmen and women a little crooked, but then few of us are really clean. BY DAILY NATION