Why Mt Kenya MPs need to be a little more sensible in their demands
What you need to know:
What irked most Kenyans was the perceived sense of entitlement with which the statement was read.
Even more infuriating, was the fact that whereas the President has deliberately decided to unite a tribally fragmented country, parliamentarians from his very backyard seemed to be continuing with talk and politics that would derail his agenda of a more cohesive nation.
Recent utterances attributed to Mt Kenya MPs have left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Kenyans with many viewing them as selfish. The statement read by nominated MP Cecily Mbarire on behalf of her counterparts did not go down well with vast sections of the country.
INFURIATING
All this because of a mistaken assertion that Mt Kenya region contributes 60 per cent of the country’s GDP, a bold falsehood that cannot be backed by any semblance of fact. What irked most Kenyans was the perceived sense of entitlement with which the statement was read. Even more infuriating, was the fact that whereas the President has deliberately decided to unite a tribally fragmented country, parliamentarians from his very backyard seemed to be continuing with talk and politics that would derail his agenda of a more cohesive nation.
UNDERMINE
Rather than meeting to strategise on how their kinsman, the President, would leave behind a better reputation and legacy for himself and their region, theirs was a meeting to tell Kenyans that their region is god. For an ethnocentric and tribally-sensitive nation like Kenya, such careless talk can only undermine the cohesion processes that have been remarkable so far. That is what we have been avoiding: a country in which one section feels superior to the rest, and goes on to flaunt it like a sore thumb.
DEVOLUTION
Not that I did not disagree with everything they said. In fact, if they had found the right person, tone, temperament and way to voice their concerns, many Kenyans would have identified with their cause. In my estimation, the Mt Kenya MPs were making a case for devolution.
Theirs was a cry for more resources to be allocated to their counties, in order to increase developmental activities in their regions. This is not peculiar to Mt Kenya region. The case for strengthening devolution has been on for a while. Our Constitution envisages 15 per cent of the national budget as the floor for allocating resources to counties.
DISINGENOUS
However, to ask the President to be the one to do this is disingenuous. The President does not make the laws that govern devolution, the parliamentarians do. The Finance and Budget committee of the National Assembly is headed by none other than Kanini Kega, whereas that of the Senate has Isaac Mwaura as the vice chair, both parliamentarians from the very Mt Kenya region where the leaders speaking in Naivasha hail from.
BUDGET
This begs the question, do the parliamentarians who attended that session know their roles? Do they understand the amount of power that they wield as regards devolving funds to their counties?
Tragically, some of the attendees at the event were elected senators from the region. The role of senators is primarily to oversight management of resources in their counties. Early this year, the Controller of Budget issued a list of counties that did not spend resources allocated for development in the last financial year.
INCOMPETENCE
Out of the 14 counties in that list of shame, eight were counties in the Mt Kenya region. The list of 14 included Nyandarua, Nakuru, Murang’a, Meru, Nyeri, Embu, Kirinyaga, Tharaka Nithi, Siaya, Taiata Taveta, Vihiga, Kisumu, Garissa and West Pokot. I had hoped to hear from the senators from these counties raising their voices against such blatant incompetence, but none uttered a word.
LIVELIHOODS
Did they expect Uhuru Kenyatta to direct the counties on how to spend these monies? How is he to blame for the hospitals that should have been built but were not? How is he to blame for the boreholes that could have been sunk had the counties not returned the monies?
How is he going to be blamed for ‘neglecting’ his area when money meant to level and grade roads in these counties was returned to Government instead of helping farmers who need these roads to access the markets and subsequently improve their livelihoods?
IMPARTIAL
Let people do their jobs. Be conscious of and sensitive to our country’s weak threads of tribal bigotry. Speak objectively always.
We must never fall into the trap of yester-years when the presidency meant that one part of the country from where the President hailed would experience exponential comparative development over the rest of the country.
The presidency is a symbol of unity and whoever sits on that seat owes all Kenyans impartial service and equitable development.
Mr Kihoro is a research and data expert. [email protected]
