Kenyan politicians in race to control funds

NAIROBI: As the jostling for positions ahead of the 2017 General Election heats up, one notable thing is that the positions of Senator and Woman Representative have lost their appeal.

Nearly all the senators Kenya has today have indicated that they will go for the governor’s seat next year. The majority of Women Representatives have set their sights on parliamentary seats.

While senators at some point sought - and failed - to control county boards, Women Representatives demanded allocations higher than the Sh7 million Affirmative Action Fund under their control. The common complaint these leaders have had is lack of adequate funds to initiate development projects.

From this, it does not require a lot of imagination to arrive at the conclusion that the driving force behind some leaders’ pursuit of more attractive positions is the need to control funds. An MP representing a constituency is in control of the Sh100 million Constituency Development Fund, for instance.

This competition to control the purse strings points to the fact that service provision is of secondary importance; all leaders fight for is to be where the money is. It is therefore upon Kenyans to choose their leaders carefully and leave out those whose only wish is to enrich themselves.