How greedy MCAs are denying Kenyans fruits of devolution

An MCA is admitted to the Baringo County Referral Hospital after he was allegedly beaten by other MCAs on November 14, 2018. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Make no mistake about it; whatever their failures, county assemblies are the very core of devolution.
  • Speakers are the chairpersons of the all-powerful county assembly service boards, a very influential position.
  • The board’s functions are mainly administrative, for it prepares the assembly’s budget and expenditure.

Until recently back in the village, a few boda-boda friends kept calling me MCA as I passed by, which, in my circumstances, was quite flattering.

The reason they did so was that at the height of the election fever last year, I once drove in a big black vehicle complete with a sun-roof, and they assumed that my ambitions had grown quite lofty.

So even when I assured them that I had no aspirations for such greatness, the title sort of stuck among them as a joke.

However, I intend to disabuse them soon, for it is the MCAs themselves who may have become something of a joke.

I don’t make such accusations lightly, especially as I still respect the man I voted for as my MCA, though his development pedigree and efforts seem to have become stymied by poor stewardship at the helm of the government in his county.

However, that is not what I am about right now.

CHANGE ATTITUDE

What is of greater concern is that unless there is a complete change in attitude among members of county assemblies countrywide, they will be deemed to have become willing accomplices in the greatest betrayal of people’s aspirations — denying them the fruits of devolution.

This is not to say that devolution has failed.

On the contrary, it remains one of the most important pillars of the new Constitution promulgated eight years ago.

Why it has not worked quite the way it was expected can be attributed to one thing: failure by those elected to implement it.

The reason for this failure is that they were either clueless about what they were supposed to do, or they collectively acquired the sense of entitlement to public resources that immediately infects our politicians once elected.

In that area they had very capable teachers — their counterparts in Parliament.

Make no mistake about it; whatever their failures, county assemblies are the very core of devolution.

CRUCIAL ROLE

MCAs play, or ought to play, a crucial role in governance at the grassroots.

Their main function is to debate and make laws that govern operations at the county level, provide oversight over the operations of county governments, and make and approve budgets for those operations. Even more important, they are the direct link between the executive and the people.

To play their representation role effectively, they must seek the views of their electorate on the kind and scope of development projects that ought to be undertaken in their wards. But is this what really happens? Apparently, not many of them care greatly about such “mundane’’ issues. Indeed, in the past, they were known for two achievements: coming up with creative ideas about how to make money from useless benchmarking trips abroad, and arranging secretive committee meetings to earn hefty sitting allowances.

ARM-TWIST GOVERNORS

To get their way, they first attempted to arm-twist their governors by threatening to impeach or actually impeaching them, but these folks proved to be a hard nut to crack.

No governor has ever been successfully impeached, though, in fact, many have richly deserved to be sent home. To avoid such hassles, the governors decided the best way to tame the MCAs was to bribe them with all kinds of perks.

However, apparently, this was not enough, for the MCAs have now hit upon the idea of blackmailing the Speakers of their own assemblies.

After all, they seem to reason, they elected the Speakers and could always send them packing if they refused to approve the goodies.

INFLUENTIAL POSITION

The Speakers are the chairpersons of the all-powerful county assembly service boards, a very influential position.

The other members of the board are the county clerk as its secretary, the majority and minority leaders of the two dominant political parties in the assembly, as well as a member or two representing the interests of the public who must not be MCAs.

The board’s functions are mainly administrative, for it prepares the assembly’s budget and expenditure, and is also mandated to create or abolish offices.

It has powers over training of staff, among other important welfare duties, which is why membership in the board is so coveted by MCAs.

IMPEACHED

It might explain why Nairobi’s Beatrice Elachi was impeached, Kakamega’s Speaker is in trouble, MCAs in Bungoma are goring one another, and there is chaos in Machakos, Kisumu, Embu, Homa Bay, and Garissa counties.

It is all about money.

Why is it that almost all our elected leaders seem to suffer from bad cases of financial incontinence? Though they reportedly make between Sh400,000-Sh500,000 in salaries and perks, some are again agitating for higher salaries.

Even if they are “invited” to too many harambees, burials, and weddings, seeking more money from the hard-pressed taxpayer is hardly the solution.

My own feeling is that the MCAs should just reject some of these invitations or send emissaries to explain that money does not grow on trees in their shambas, and get done with it.

Of course that may very likely curtail their political careers abruptly, but what the heck!

They will have more peace of mind and probably live longer.

Mr Ngwiri is a consultant editor. [email protected]