COUNTY POLITICS: With only 13 Bills passed, Kakamega County Assembly posts poor show

With 87 members, the Kakamega County Assembly is one of Kenya’s largest but has been criticised for passing a paltry 13 Bills in four years of its existence.

All the bills enacted into law have originated from the County executive raising questions on the competence of MCAs to initiate meaningful legislation that will impact positively on delivery of services in the populous county.

In all, the House has 16 Bills pending for debate.

This has led to a series of taunts, that it has performed dismally and below the expectations of residents.

A lobby group, Bunge la Haki Usawa na Maendeleo says the County Assembly has let down the people of Kakamega by failing to play their oversight role effectively.

The chairman of the lobby group, Mr Boniface Manda, said the County Assembly had also scored poorly by failing to fight corruption and check the excesses of the executive.

“The county reps have been busy quarrelling among themselves and engaging in political sideshows that are not meaningful in enhancing delivery of services to residents of the county,” said Mr Manda.

The lobby group has faulted the performance of the county assembly for failing to summon and investigate county executives linked to abuse of their offices and misuse of public resources.

OFFICIAL OPPOSITION

The House of 60 elected and 27 nominated county reps has ODM as the majority party with 35 elected and 17 nominated county reps followed by UDF which has 14 elected and six nominated.

Amani National Congress is recognised as the official opposition party in the assembly, with 19 elected members and eight nominated.

The dominance enjoyed by ODM in the Assembly has been faulted for the failure by MCAs to effectively exercise their oversight of the executive, given that Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and his deputy Prof Philip Kutima are from the Orange party.

Assembly Speaker Mr Morris Buluma, says his biggest challenge has been to ensure members participated in House business effectively.

“House committees have been working hard to ensure all aspects of the performance of the executive is scrutinised. The role of the House has been to play robust oversight and we have done our best to ensure we meet the expectation of the public,” said Mr Buluma.

Majority Leader Robert Makhanu, represents Kongoni Ward in Likuyani sub-county.
Mr Makhanu has stood up as a sharp leader who has vigorously defended the performance of the executive at the Assembly.

'PROCEEDING WELL'

“Members went out of their way to scrutinise the budget, even finding time during weekends to get the work done. We are proceeding well as a county because of the unselfish contribution of members of the assembly,” Mr Makhanu says.

As the Majority Leader, Mr Makhanu has stood out for marshalling support to push through motions and bills originating from the County Government to ensure proper procedure is followed from the drafting stage, tabling and debate.

The Minority Leader Titus Marachi Kuoma represents Chekalini ward.

Mr Kuoma has stood out as a fierce critic of the administration of Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, raising issues on suspected shady dealings involving county executives and county government workers.

Mr Kuoma is credited with working hard to keep the executive in check by actively playing his role of whipping members of the minority in the House to vote on crucial bills, amendments and motions.

He is a member of the County Assembly Service Board and plays the role of ensuring the welfare of members in the House is taken care of.

“The opposition has a critical role to play in development of our county. Our role is not just to oppose everything in the County Assembly but rather ensure the executive is kept in check to be able to deliver on services effectively,” said Mr Kuoma.

PERSUADING RESIDENTS

Mr Buluma says the biggest challenge has been persuading residents to turn up and follow proceedings at the County Assembly to judge the performance of their elected representatives.

“The public is encouraged to come to the assembly and attend proceedings from the public gallery. They can influence decisions by participating in proceedings at the committee level by giving views and proposals for consideration.”

Although the Speaker has been coy about commenting on the performance of the individual MCAs, he says the 60 elected members had made their maiden contributions on the floor of the house.

According to Mr Manda, three MCAs have stood out in terms of performance at the County Assembly.

They are Mahiakalo Ward’s Cleophas Malala, his Namamali Ward counterpart Kelvin Olengo and nominated UDF MCA Alex Khamasi.

“The three MCAs have spearheaded initiatives to investigate cases involving suspect deals and have been vibrant in their contributions to debate in the Assembly,” said Mandu.

However, Speaker Buluma says no survey had been conducted to track the performance of the County reps in the last five years.

“We are happy that all the 87 MCAs have made their maiden contributions in the Assembly and remained active in their contributions while serving their first terms. There is every indication that the next team of County reps, who will be elected after the August 2017 polls be quite vigorous and assertive in their work,” said Mr Buluma.