Who will curb the excesses of our ward reps?
County Assembly Nakuru members engage in a fierce fist fight on the floor of the House on March 10, 2015 over evident division on who between Samuel Waithuki of Naivasha East and George Mwaura of Visoi Ward Majority Leader. Mr Waithuki on November 24, 2015 promised to work with his reinstated Mr Njenga. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Remember that for eight long months Makueni’s MCAs refused to pass the budget because they wanted their recurrent – not development – expenditure higher than what is allowed by the Controller of Budget.
- By refusing to pass budgets County Assemblies are in effect fighting governors and the county governments of which they are a part and, by extension, devolution which created them.
- What should concern the Senate more is how county governments can speedily build capacity to enable them manage their finances better; plan and execute their budgets efficiently and effectively and, in accordance with, and adherence to, the Public Finance Management Act of 2012 ensure 35 per cent of their budgets are devoted to development.
Who will curb the excesses of the Members of the County Assemblies, now better known by one and all by the acronym MCAs? Look, MCAs in Uasin Gishu County are earning Sh312,339 in allowances monthly where they are supposed to earn Sh124,800 as set by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
That is more than three times their entitlement. Who, I ask, is supposed to curb the excesses of the MCAs? Remember that for eight long months Makueni’s MCAs refused to pass the budget because they wanted their recurrent – not development – expenditure higher than what is allowed by the Controller of Budget.
Meaning? These MCAs do not want to listen to the Controller of Budget, which means they want to decide by themselves what to spend on development and on themselves for themselves. They don’t want to obey the allowances caps set by the SRC because they want to decide for themselves what they should earn and what they should carry home.
So MCAs in Migori took home Sh185,792 in monthly sitting allowances, with their Trans Nzoia counterparts in hot pursuit with Sh178,168 to outdo their Homa Bay and Bungoma colleagues who checked out with Sh165,120 and Sh154,700 respectively. It bears repeating that the ceiling for allowances for MCAs has been set by the SRC at Sh124,800.
Clearly these MCAs do not care a hoot for the people who elected them or why they elected them. It is why they would refuse to pass budgets for as long as they did in Makueni. If they cared about the electorate they would not hold them to ransom by denying the executive the money to fund development projects because they want money for themselves.
By refusing to pass budgets County Assemblies are in effect fighting governors and the county governments of which they are a part and, by extension, devolution which created them. These are clearly not cases of County Assemblies biting the hand that feeds them, but exhibition of excessive greed that threatens to devour that very hand.
When Prof Kivutha Kibwana, the Makueni Governor, courageously stood up to the MCAs, they impeached him. By so doing, they poisoned the air with claims that Prof Kibwana was corrupt. By so doing, they cleverly shielded their greed and graft from public scrutiny but two events blew the bottom out of their deception.
One, Prof Kibwana boldly went to the county and the people of Makueni resolved to dissolve their government as currently constituted and go to fresh elections. The legal process towards this end is on-going. Two, the Finance and Planning department froze their accounts when they refused to submit their books of account for its inspection.
Why did the MCAs change their minds and declare in February they were ready to work with Prof Kibwana? One, they were broke and auctioneers were knocking on their doors. Two, they were not guaranteed re-election having caused the dissolution of their own government. Three, their Wiper party backed the governor – who is not its member - and declared it would not support them.
So, who will protect governors and county executives from MCAs? Put another way, who will save devolution from MCAs? It is, in my view, the Senate. But, first, the Upper House must get its priorities right. It exists as the custodian of devolution which means it is the champion of the economic, social and political emancipation and empowerment of ordinary Kenyans.
But the Senate has for the better part of its existence fought governors who are supposed to implement the dream of devolution that they are supposed to safeguard. Then Senators have been goaded into futile and sterile wars with their National Assembly counterparts over such piffle as which House has the larger population of septuagenarians.
What should concern the Senate more is how county governments can speedily build capacity to enable them manage their finances better; plan and execute their budgets efficiently and effectively and, in accordance with, and adherence to, the Public Finance Management Act of 2012 ensure 35 per cent of their budgets are devoted to development.
Second, the Senate should be asking the national government to take back the thousands of civil servants it dumped on county governments and engaging governors on hiring and retaining lean and mean teams for maximum efficiency.
Opanga is a media consultant; [email protected]
