County bosses head to Mombasa for talks

Governors and other county top brass from across the country start arriving in Coast Tuesday for talks on the future of devolution as they mark one year in office.

The talks will also be attended by members of County Assemblies, who have come under the spotlight over the controversial Finance and Appropriation Bills that they have passed as counties raced to raise revenues. Many of these Bills have prescribed hefty levies against businesses and homesteads, sparking protests over excessive taxation.

Guest speakers will include Lagos Governor Babatunde Fashola and Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.

Prof Paul Smoke of New York University will talk about how counties can attract and manage debt for sustainable development, while the chairman of the Commission on Revenue Allocation, Mr Micah Cheserem, will also address the gathering.

The talks meant to take stock of the successes, failures and challenges facing devolution come amid growing debate between leaders in the Jubilee government and their critics over their support for devolved government.

The leaders have been accused the government of failing to do enough to support devolution, but the latter has defended itself, saying, it has in fact exceeded constitutional expectations.

Focus will now turn to how the county bosses have performed in their first year in office.

An analysis by the Nation team has established that County Assemblies have passed few Bills since they were inaugurated.

A speaker in one of the counties blamed the Executive for the few Bills passed, saying, governors only forwarded Bills they regard as important for enactment.

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

“Bills originate as legislative proposals from the Executive, which are then published and enacted by the Assembly.

The few proposals are limited to those the Executive feels are important and in most cases, those which result in the generation of more money,” the Speaker who sought anonymity said in an interview at the weekend.

For instance, Taita Taveta County has not passed even one Bill — not even its Finance Bill that authorises the county to collect levies from businesses.

Nyeri, Baringo, Narok and Nakuru are among counties that have only passed the Finance and Appropriation Bills, while Nairobi and Turkana are leading after passing seven and six Bills respectively.

Kilifi received the thumbs up after passing a Bill that will pave the way for the establishment of a County Scholarship Fund, but the MCAs took the thunder out of it two weeks ago when they started debating another that will culminate in the banning of miniskirts in the county.

Embu County made history by being the first to impeach the its governor, Mr Martin Wambora and his deputy, Ms Dorothy Nditi. While the Senate upheld the impeachment of Mr Wambora which is now the subject of a court case, Ms Nditi was cleared of any wrong-doing and the court later said she could take over as acting governor.

This also set a precedent as she is now the first woman governor, albeit acting.

The county has passed four Bills, three of which were originated by MCAs.

Nairobi County Assembly topped the list of Bills passed — Seven Bills in seven months.

“We are proud that we have been setting the pace,” the Nairobi County Assembly speaker Alex ole Magelo said.

Reported by Patrick Nzioka, Jonathan Manyindo, Wachira Mwangi, Kazungu Samuel, Otiato Guguyu, Moraa Obiria, George Sayagie, Wycliffe Kipsang, Sammy Lutta, Bob Odalo and Copperfield Lagat.