I am ready for fresh elections, says Kivutha Kibwana

Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana.

Makueni, Kenya: Embattled Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana says he is confident of winning back his seat in the event the county government is dossolved and fresh elections are called.

Kibwana says he would rather seek a fresh mandate from Makueni voters than condone mal-practices or take corruption accusations against him lying down.

Prof Kibwana is emphatic that the differences between the executive and county assembly are irreconcilable and that the only way out is to go back to the ballot.

Just eight months after he was sworn-in, Kibwana threatened to resign after Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) demanded the county budget be slashed to raise their emoluments and allowances.

But after a flurry of consultations, which ended in the MCAs backing down, Prof Kibwana agreed to remain in office.

But this time, he says will fight to the end to rid the county of greed by some leaders keen on undermining his development agenda.

Last month, the governor and his MCAs locked horns, prompting the Senate to declare it will conduct a public inquiry into the wars that have stalled county operations.

The split over the county budget and corruption allegations has widened, as Kibwana and the MCAs dig in. The two sides want the county government dissolved. Five people were shot and injured elected leaders and a group led by Kibwana clashed at the assembly grounds.

Rogue MCAs?

Leader of Majority Francis Munyao does not mince his words. “The governor is a failure who is trying to hide under claims that MCAs are corrupt and greedy. I promise that if Makueni goes to the ballot today, Kibwana will be the first to go home,” he said.

Kibwana says should they go for fresh elections, he will retain his seat, insisting that Makueni residents back his stand in the war against corruption.

In an exclusive interview with The Standard on Sunday, Kibwana said he is not about to compromise his principles and integrity to please a few individuals, who, he says, are only interested in making money at the expense of the public.

“I will not do things that I have never done in my life. If it means losing my seat as the governor so be it. At the end of it all, I will leave behind a legacy that public resources must be spent prudently,” he says.

Since the Makueni County Assembly was constituted, there has been disharmony between the executive and MCAs over salaries and various perks.

In the 2013-2014 budget, Kibwana had proposed a budget of Sh5 billion in which he had allocated MCAs Sh89 million for operations. However, the ward representatives demanded Sh1 billion. After negotiations, Kibwana revised the allocation first to Sh150 million, then Sh484 million and finally to Sh554 million.

The matter was resolved after an intervention by the Office of the Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo and other constitutional organs.

Through his spirited fight, Kibwana managed to have the Controller of Budget set ceilings for county assembly expenditures. But come the 2014-2015 budget, the MCAs are at it again.

According to Kibwana, the assembly has refused to pass the budget demanding they be allocated Sh949 million more for recurrent and ward development.

“This is not only unrealistic but unsustainable. The provided ceiling for the assembly is Sh345 million,” says the governor, adding that the assembly has already spent Sh174 million out of the Sh376 million budget for the current financial year.

But the the ward representatives have refuted the claims, saying the allocation to the assembly has not been an issue because the Controller of Budget had placed a ceiling on their expenditure.

Missing millions

Munyao accuses the governor of refusing to be held accountable, saying they have evidence that he has misappropriated millions of shillings allocated in the last financial year. “We have given the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), all elected leaders and the leader of the Wiper Party evidence to effect that the governor has squandered money meant for women and youth empowerment,” claimed Munyao.

He accuses the governor of failing to account for Sh20 million meant for civic education in the financial year 2013-2014. “There was another Sh40 million for boda boda operators, Sh60 million for bursaries and another Sh50 million for purchase of seedlings,” Munyao claims.

He argues that if the four ministers recently sacked by the assembly are innocent, they should face the EACC and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to clear their names.

Corrupt cartels

Kibwana claims his decision to question demands of MCAs and the determination to fight graft has made him unpopular among the cartels of Makueni.

He says nothing will ruin his plan of transforming Makueni into a county where resources are sustainably harnessed and equitably shared for the benefit of every household.

Kibwana, who served in the Kibaki administration under the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) as a minister for Land and Settlement and Environment and Natural Resources, says his conscience cannot allow him to go against his values and ideals.

 

“I have stood firm against corruption and will continue doing so as governor. I want the people of Makueni to know that even if they will not re-elect me, I will stand for the same ideals,” he says.

Kibwana adds that when he contested and won the gubernatorial seat, his agenda was to ensure the success of devolution at the grass roots.

“I had the option of contesting other positions but I decided to seek the gubernatorial position because I wanted to ensure the success of devolution right from the village,” he explains,

The former spokesperson of the National Convention Executive Council (NCEC) says it was not the huge perks that lured him to contest the position but his belief in devolution.

“I had a well-paying job at the University of Nairobi. I was also doing some consultancy work for various organisations and earning even more that a governor’s salary,” he says. Kibwana says his resolve to fight corruption and decision to enlighten the people of Makueni on their role in developing the county has not gone down well with some leaders.

Row over allocations

“When I allocated Sh40million for civic education in the budget, the county assembly slashed it to Sh5 million,” he says adding that was the first attempt by the assembly to try and deny the people of Makueni a chance to participate effectively in development.

“My mission to effectively engage with stakeholders in the most effective way was not received well by the leaders,” he claims.

Instead of the County Assembly supporting him by passing key legislation, he says, the members failed to pass various Bills on sand harvesting, alcohol control, social protection and land. “Those pieces of legislation have been lying at the assembly for six month now,” says the governor, adding that to frustrate him further, the assembly sacked four of his ministers.

The assembly has already impeached the Minister for Finance, who is the head of the county Treasury, grounding the county government to a halt.

The assembly also sacked ministers for Agriculture and Livestock, Water and Irrigation and that for Lands and Urban Planning. But the Majority Leader defends the decision, saying if they were clean, they should present themselves to the authorities and clear their names.

Munyao has also defended the decision by the assembly not to pass the legislation, saying members had refused to be used to pass laws after the executive misappropriated funds.

“The Social Protection Bill was brought to the house after money had been spent?” posed Munyao. He says members of the assembly will be glad to face the electorate for a second time because they are sure they recapture their seats.

“Claims of corruption leveled on us by the governor are meant to hoodwink the public and incite them against MCAs. The truth is the governor has failed to manage the county well,” he claims.

Serious disconnect

Kibwana accuses a section of MPs and the senator of ganging up with the MCAs to further frustrate him and aggravate the the crisis. Local leaders led by Mutula Kilonzo Junior and Kisoi Munyao says there is a serious disconnect between the county government, the assembly and elected leaders.

“There is no role for MPs in the management of county affairs. It is the work of the governor, the county assembly, and the county executive. At the county level, senators and MPs participate under the provision of Section 91 of the County Government Act. Where an issue is on oversight, the same is done as institutions, not individually.” says Kibwana.

He says graft allegations against him are pure witch-hunt.

“They claim that my wife has a company that has been allocated a Sh55 million contract to renovate a building but they can’t even point out what building was being renovated or the company they allege belongs to her,” he says.

Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, who chairs the Senate’s Devolution Committee, says they have resolved to conduct a public inquiry between October 14 and October 16 to establish the reason behind the Makueni stalemate.