Mandera MCAs: We were not bribed to approve county board

The Mandera County Assembly has vehemently denied bribery allegations while approving the nominees to the county public service board (CPSB) last Wednesday.

Majority Leader Abdi Adan Ali termed the allegation by one of them as baseless.

“Whoever provided information that MCAs had a deal with the executive to approve the report by the Committee on Appointment clearing the five nominees has ill intentions against the assembly,” he said.

Mr Ali insisted that there was no any kind of bargain between the assembly and the executive to approve the nominees.

“That information is false and we demand for an apology because it has soiled our reputation as a House of rules,” said Ali.

QUORUM HITCH

A source at the assembly had confided to the Nation that the walkout staged by members on the Wednesday morning when the report was being tabled was due to a failed bargain between the executive and the assembly.

But Mr Ali said the walkout staged by MCAs when the report was tabled was due to a quorum hitch.

“There was no quorum to discuss the report and members present left to go to other sectorial and committee meetings,” he said.

Minority Leader Jimale Abdi Hassan warned members against spreading false information about the assembly.

ABOVE BOARD

“Whoever said MCAs had entered into a bargain with the executive should always get the right information before sharing with the media or public,” he said.

Mr Hassan said the vetting of the five nominees was above board and thoroughly done.

“We did a thorough job [during] vetting [and we were] satisfied with qualifications of each nominee before we presented the report to the assembly. We never asked for anything from anyone,” he said.

The five members were sworn in on Friday, allowing operations in the county to go on after almost four months of no work done.

UPHOLD INTEGRITY

As they took oath of office, the county’s leadership urged them to uphold integrity.

“The task ahead of you is challenging but we are expecting high levels of integrity as you execute your duties,” said Governor Ali Roba.

The five are Mr Dakane Maalim Mohamed, Mr Jama Hassan Genney, Mr Mohamed Alio Issak, Mr Mohamed Hassan Maalim and Ms Nasra Muktar Ibrahim.

Governor Roba asked the board members to focus on efficient service delivery, ethical and value-based public service and enhancing the board’s capacity to deliver on its mandate.

STRATEGIC PLAN

“I urge the board to take up office and quickly embark on delivering a strategic plan that will help address the county’s present and future challenges by ensuring that citizens access timely, affordable and quality services,” he said.

He advised the board to scale up the productivity of the county public service and eliminate wastage by targeting improved performance with limited resources.

Mr Roba said expectation is high on the county public service board to ensure the requisite skills mapping, recruitment and retention of skilled and ethical human resources through research-based interventions in the service.

“I am aware it has been challenging attracting some of the skill sets of professionals we require. That is part of your job as you take up office,” he said.

CANCELLED

Attempts to hire county government staffs earlier in the year flopped after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission questioned the process.

At least 1,000 appointments by Governor Roba’s administration were cancelled at the time.

The CPSB is charged with developing and implementing human resource framework for the county government in line with relevant laws.

Mr Roba urged the board to hire and sustain suitable employees who can effectively and efficiently implement the county’s programmes and projects as contained in the county integrated development plan.

He said at least 3,000 employees have been hired by the board in Mandera, adding that another 3,000 non-skilled workers will be hired under the youth and women empowerment programmes from disadvantaged backgrounds and will be engaged in climate change interventions across county.