Senate move to cut governors’ powers over cash splits MPs

Council of governors Chair Isaac Ruto.

The creation by the Senate of county development boards (CDBs) has split the National Assembly, with many MPs describing it as an attempt to whittle down governors’ powers.

The Senate, which is supposed to play an oversight role over governance matters in the counties, has effectively become a player with the passing of the County Government (Amendment) Act 2014 that created the CDBs.

There is suspicion that the CDBs present a clear conflict of interest as senators, who will chair the boards, and MPs who will be members, would also have to sit in judgement over cases related to the same through their respective parliamentary committees.

It also takes away the executive authority granted to governors by the Constitution to oversee spending on development projects. The county chiefs have already gone to court challenge the law’s constitutionality, but MPs, mainly from Jubilee, have backed it.

The Senate is already in a rush to have the 47 CDBs constituted by September 18. Sunday, ODM’s Suna East MP Mohamed Junet said the amendment passed by Senate was unconstitutional and meant to undermine devolution.

Junet said the county bosses should be given time to do their work freely, and those who underperform would be judged by voters in the 2017 General Election.

"The governor is like the President in the county, and if in the national government the President only consults with his Cabinet on development matters, why should we then subject the county bosses to committees when they were given a mandate to govern by the people?" Junet asked.

He said it was illegal to have the Senators sit in the boards and still oversee the same counties.

"If the senators chair the boards, when there is a problem in the county then they are part of the mess. How then will they turn around and pretend to oversight the same governors. That is unconstitutional and untenable," said Junet.

Sigor MP Philip Rotino said making senators chairpersons of the boards was downgrading governors.

"The chairmanship of the boards should not be sole responsibilities of Senators. I will convince MPs to amend the law so that the position is contested through an election," Rotino added.

The new law gives Senators automatic mandates as chairpersons of the boards with the governors as secretaries.

Pokot South legislator David Pkosing also concurred that the chairmen of the boards should be elected by members. Pkosing vowed to push through amendments in Parliament.

Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir explained that the executive powers still remained with the governors despite the creation of the boards.

Nassir, however, said that the Act should have provided that the seat of the chairman be rotational amongst the leaders in the county.

"They should have designed that the chairmanship rotates from the senators to the MPs and other leaders in the county, but now we have until six months to do such amendments, but the executive powers must remain with the governor as per the mandate they were given by the people," said Nassir.

Tigania West MP David Kariithi said Governors should not feel threatened by the coming into force of the boards.

"The idea is to bring all players on board. It will make possible better management of county affairs and development agenda. Having MPs, MCAs, Governors, Senators and even the County Commissioners work together is a very good scenario. Governors should thank MPs for that legislation because it makes their work easier," said Kariithi.

"The boards will help to plan how to use all resources, including CDF. There is nothing wrong with senators chairing the board," he added.

At the weekend, Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto clashed with two senators from South Rift over the creation of the boards. Ruto dismissed them as unconstitutional while Kericho Senator Charles Keter and his Bomet counterpart Wilfred Lesan insisted they were there to stay whether governors like or not.

Keter said from next month senators would call the first CDB meetings in their counties and insisted that governors must attend.

But Ruto vowed not to attend any meeting chaired by the Senator in his county.

"Chairing development meetings is the work of governors and there is no time I will attend those meetings you will be calling as senators to discuss development," said Ruto.

But Prof Lesan countered:  "The law is clear on the formation of the boards and we are only interested in ensuring checks and balances in distribution of the resources in counties to benefit all. We are not about to dictate or usurp the powers of the county chiefs as has been claimed. It is through such conventions that we as elected leaders can get together and tackle the challenges affecting our people. There is absolutely no problem in us chairing these board meetings because we want to ensure all people are served equally.

Keter claimed that the boards were the best way to handle public resources at the counties.

"We are not after you. What we only want is transparency and after all the meeting is just held once," added Keter

Sunday, the National Speakers Forum Secretary General and Elgeyo Marakwet County Assembly speaker Albert Kochei said CDBs would create conflict between national and county governments.

Kochei said the amendment to the Act sponsored by Nandi Senator Stephen Sang is anti-devolution, and would interfere with the constitutional functioning of county governments.

"The senators should clearly state their position because their actions show that they are working for the national government and not protecting the counties as stated in their mandate," said Kochei.

The Speaker observed that the senators were not involved in the formation of the five-years County Integrated Development Plans (CIDP) but now want to chair committees to implement the projects.