Ward reps in Sh12bn car grant and office deal to drop referendum push

What you need to know:

  • MCAs who spoke to the Nation on phone confirmed that they were in talks with the Executive on the car grants and offices, and that a deal was in the offing.
  • Deputy President William Ruto was the first to hint at the secret deal between the Executive and the MCAs when he announced last week that the government would provide the county representatives with offices to enable them to discharge their mandate effectively.
  • President Kenyatta is said to have promised the ward representatives car grants and offices in March when he addressed their annual summit in Mombasa.

Kenyans may be forced to pay as much as Sh12 billion to meet the cost of offices and vehicles for thousands of ward representatives in a deal by the government aimed at scuttling the referendum campaign.

Under the deal, which was to be sealed at a meeting between President Kenyatta and the County Assembly Forum (CAF) in Kwale Monday, the government will fund the construction of offices for all the 2,100 ward representatives.

At a projected cost of Sh3 million per unit, the government will require Sh6.3 billion to build offices for all the Members of County Assembly (MCAs).

The government will also pay the salaries of their staff, and extend car grants of up to Sh2 million to each of the ward representatives. This will set the taxpayer back by Sh4.2 billion. The cost of fuelling and maintaining the vehicles will also be met by the taxpayer.

In turn, the government expects the MCAs to reject the draft Bills set to be tabled in the county assemblies by both Cord and the Council of Governors, effectively scuttling the separate referendum campaigns.

The government deal mirrors the sweeteners offered to the MCAs by the Council of Governors to secure support for the referendum campaign.

MCAs who spoke to the Nation on phone confirmed that they were in talks with the Executive on the car grants and offices, and that a deal was in the offing.

“MCAs have been agitating for car grants of up to Sh2.5 million, half of what MPs get because of the poor road network in most of our wards. We have also been agitating for ward offices.

“We have tabled two proposals, that they either construct offices for elected MCAs in their wards, which will cost at least Sh3 million, or that they rent offices for MCAs of between Sh20,000 and Sh40,000 per month,” Vihiga county representative to the forum Reuben Ombima said.

DOWNPLAY DEAL

The chairman of the MCAs forum, Dr Abdi Nuh, however, downplayed the deal, saying that ward representatives had only demanded car grants of Sh2 million. He denied that they were also demanding offices in their wards.

“The proposal we sent to SRC (Salaries and Remuneration Commission) was for car grants of Sh2 million for each MCA. The issue of offices does not really arise because MCAs already have offices provided and paid for by the respective County Assembly Service Boards,” he told the Nation.

Deputy President William Ruto was the first to hint at the secret deal between the Executive and the MCAs when he announced last week that the government would provide the county representatives with offices to enable them to discharge their mandate effectively.

He further announced that MCAs would be allowed to sit in government agencies in their respective counties to ensure transparency and accountability in the use of funds.

“The request by MCAs that they want to be represented in the inter-governmental institutions so that they can have their say and input in matters of devolution is welcome.

“The Jubilee government will support MCAs so that they can be empowered to execute their responsibilities of representation and oversight in the counties.

The Jubilee government is your father on matters of ensuring public resources channeled to counties are put to the right use,” he said.

He added that they would also be given offices in their wards.

President Kenyatta is said to have promised the ward representatives car grants and offices in March when he addressed their annual summit in Mombasa.

“He said he had no problem with MCAs getting car grants and offices to run their operations. What he was opposed to was the Ward Development Fund,” said an official of the County Assemblies Forum, who sought anonymity for fear of scuttling the deal.

HOSTED LEADERS

The President is said to have hosted the MCAs’ leadership at State House Nairobi two weeks later, when he told them that the government would offer them Sh2.5 million car grants.

He asked to be given two weeks to sort out the logistics before delivering on his promise, but nothing came of it.

By promising car grants, the government appears to be exploiting the MCAs rejection of car loans extended to them by their respective county governments on grounds that their salaries are too meagre to enable them to repay the loans.

Nation learnt that majority of the county governments had guaranteed car loans of up to Sh2 million to each MCA to facilitate their movement in the wards.