Transition Authority has until Friday to leave office

Transition Authority Chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi. The Transition Authority will have to fold up this Friday after MPs failed to extend its term despite numerous pleas to give the body more time to clear the remaining work. PHOTO | GERALD ANDERSON | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • MPs and senators sealed the fate of the body last week, telling TA to pack and go by Friday.
  • The lawmakers said TA was no longer necessary following the creation of the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee chaired by former Permanent Secretary Karega Mutahi.  
  • Senators had attempted to give the authority three more years but the National Assembly rejected their proposal.
  • The Authority came in place on March 4, 2013 following the enactment of the Transition to Devolved Government Act and was mandated to oversee implementation of devolution for three years. The period elapses on Friday.

The Transition Authority will have to fold up this Friday after MPs failed to extend its term despite numerous pleas to give the body more time to clear the remaining work.

But as they leave office, assets recovered from the defunct county councils risked being grabbed as they will be left unprotected.

MPs and senators sealed the fate of the body last week, telling TA to pack and go by Friday.

The lawmakers said TA was no longer necessary following the creation of the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee chaired by former Permanent Secretary Karega Mutahi.  

PARLIAMENT REJECTION

Senators had attempted to give the authority three more years but the National Assembly rejected their proposal.

The Authority came in place on March 4, 2013 following the enactment of the Transition to Devolved Government Act and was mandated to oversee implementation of devolution for three years. The period elapses on Friday.

“TA must go. On March 4, they should fold up and go home. The extension requires a constitutional amendment.

They have no choice. They have to follow their CIC colleagues. They should pack their bags and leave their work to the committee.

When you are given a job and told to do in three years you do it within that period.

You do not sleep on the job anticipating an extension,” said National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale.

FUTILE ATTEMPT

TA chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi made several trips to Parliament to try to persuade the lawmakers to consider the extension but that did not bear any fruit.

He also met Devolution Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri as he pushed for additional time.

Initially, the CS agreed with TA’s request for an extension, saying they would be given one more year.

But last week he changed tune, saying he was no longer in support of any extension when he appeared before Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) saying the technical committee would discharge TA’s mandate effectively.

Senators were the first to propose a three-year extension through a Bill sponsored by Legal Affairs Committee chaired by Busia Senator Amos Wako.

This extension would have been achieved through an amendment to the Constitution but they shifted goalposts this week, saying TA had no choice but to go home.

The CIOC presented a report that recommended the rejection of more time for the body.