Senators to get Sh300m to monitor governors

Senators will now get more than Sh300 million to monitor and evaluate how governors are managing counties, after the National Treasury agreed to allocate them the amount through a supplementary budget.

The money will be shared among the lawmakers and would be used to monitor the activities of the county bosses over the next four months.

Senators are set to receive Sh1 billion for the same function in the next budget.

The lawmakers have been pushing for a monetary allocation to help them perform their functions as indicated in Article 96 of the Constitution.

The money will be shared among the 47 elected senators, although the nominated ones have demanded that they too should get funds as they also have a constituency to look after.

The allocation would still have to be approved by the National Assembly, but senators expect it to sail through.

Kitui Senator David Musila told members they wanted Sh1 billion but Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich refused, only agreeing to provide a third of it.

“The money was only approved yesterday (Thursday) and will be used for the next three months. The CS totally refused the Sh1 billion we wanted,” said Mr Musila.

Senators said the money is meant to help them perform their constitutional duties, which they had not been able to discharge because of financial constraints.

Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr said the failure to allocate the requested Sh1 billion showed the executive was yet to appreciate the importance of the Senate.

“The allocation will be prorated. They are doing it as if they are doing us a big favour. They are giving it like sweets,” said Mr Kilonzo.

On Friday, the nominated senators said they expected to be included in the sharing of the funds.

“We created our own cracks last time by sidelining 20 of us. We should not make it look like we are just dividing the money amongst us. You cannot do it without us. We must always feature prominently in this discussion,” said nominated Senator Martha Wangari.