Breaking News: Ruto orders postponement of school reopening
Counties crippled by assembly pay boycott
County assembly representatives of Kakamega county walk way from county assembly chambers boycotting sittings after demanding adjustment of their salaries from Ksh.52,000-300,000 as in a memorandum read by leader of majority Reuben Nyangweso of ODM. They said they 'shall not allow Governors to be paid Ksh.700, 000 while they get Ksh.52,000. PHOTO/ISAAC WALE
What you need to know:
- At a news conference addressed by Bomet’s Isaac Ruto, the governors said 80 per cent of services have been devolved and counties deserve more money.
Setting up rules - Representatives in Nairobi said it was wrong for the Salaries team to reduce their salaries from Sh159,000 a month that had earlier been proposed to Sh79,000 that was gazetted.
Thirteen county assemblies have adjourned indefinitely, crippling local government operations, in what appears to be a coordinated strike to force a pay rise for county representatives.
Nairobi, Mombasa, Baringo, Kitui, Kericho, Siaya, Kakamega, Migori, Kisii, Meru, Kirinyaga and Nakuru county assemblies were by Wednesday not sitting, paralysing devolved governments in those counties.
County assembly members are demanding a salary of Sh300,000, up from the current Sh79,200 which they now earn. They also want Sh3 million in car allowance and other perks enjoyed by members of the National Assembly and Senators.
The county officials seem to have taken their cue from members of the Members of Parliament, who are in the process of crafting a law to sack the Salaries and Remuneration Commission for trimming their generous pay and perks.
In open defiance of the law and public opinion, they have also budgeted for a pay rise, which they legally can’t award themselves.
As county representatives were paralysing governments, governors met in Nairobi to press for higher allocations. The Treasury is proposing to give counties Sh204 billion, but the governors want Sh231 billion.
At a news conference addressed by Bomet’s Isaac Ruto, the governors said 80 per cent of services have been devolved and counties deserve more money.
Setting up rules
The action by county representatives will paralyse budgets, vetting of county assembly executive nominees and the setting up of rules on how to run affairs of counties.
Law Society of Kenya chairman Eric Mutua said most county assemblies were yet to establish structures to make laws and can therefore not paralyse county operations.
He, however, said a fully functional county government that shirks its legislative role by failing to sit and conduct business, risks being taken over by the national government as provided for in the law.
Representatives in Nairobi said it was wrong for the Salaries team to reduce their salaries from Sh159,000 a month that had earlier been proposed to Sh79,000 that was gazetted.
They said the move discriminated against them and that they will only resume operations after the issue is resolved.
Governors meeting just a floor away from the Nairobi county representatives at City Hall said they were not aware of assembly boycott.
However, the council of governors chairman Isaac Ruto supported the county representatives saying their salaries were too low.
