Kisumu County Assembly has been embroiled in fights over ideological differences and a Sh808 million tender for the construction of a new Kisumu County Assembly chambers is the latest source of conflict.
At the heart of the conflict is who between the assembly and the Executive should manage the project, with both reportedly having an interest.
The war began when the assembly’s Service Board Members; Speaker Anne Adul (chair), Leader of Majority Samuel Ong’ow (vice chair) - who also represents the executive and Minority Leader (Edwin Anayo) converged to determine who takes up the tender.
Others include the Clerk and a representative of the public. The four-storey building with a basement is set to house the chambers, offices of the Speaker and Majority Leader alongside MCAs in top leadership positions.
Some Sh400 million to be used in the construction was approved in the county’s 2013/2014 supplementary budget while 300 million was to be included in the 2014/2015 financial year and the balance pushed to the 2015/2016 financial year.
A report by the Budget and Appropriations Committee on the 2013/2014 supplementary budget tabled in the assembly last month gave the administration the nod to begin the construction.
The design for the proposed new building has been unveiled in the assembly without the members’ approval.
It is the decision of the Board to give the assembly control over the project, which is said to have divided board members.
Besides dividing the House, the bid to put up the new structure came barely five months after the current building was upgraded at a cost of Sh11.9 million.
Members wanted part of the current assembly hall demolished to pave way for the new building, while the Executive maintained that the new structure be put up at the City Hall.
After the tender was awarded to an Indian firm, the Assembly board fight spilled into the House, with some MCAs supporting the Majority Leader, who was allegedly campaigning for the Executive while others backing the Speaker, who was rooting for the assembly to handle the project.
Adul told The Standard on Sunday that the Executive had threatened the assembly’s tender committee and the Clerk ordered not to sign the contract. Following these disagreements, Deputy Speaker, Pamela Jossy, said the assembly resolved to go for a bonding session in Homa Bay County.
“Ong’ow told his supporters to boycott the session and took them to a separate hotel in Kisumu where they hatched a plan to suspend the board,” she claimed.
It was the Motion to suspend the Board, which was tabled in the House on Tuesday by Manyatta B MCA Nereah Okombo that triggered the chaos.
The MCAs from the rival camps shouted at one another and denied the Speaker the control of the House.
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Adul adjourned the House sittings indefinitely to allow members resolve their differences and took the mace, the only symbol of authority in the Assembly, to the police station to protect it from irate MCAs.
But more than 35 MCAs, mostly allied to Ong’ow defied the adjournment over claims that the Speaker did not communicate the decision to the members.
Ong’ow accused the Speaker of incompetence and corruption, saying she frustrated the Assembly’s bid to discuss key motions and reports that touch on integrity of the institution.
“She has hatched a plot to scuttle the county’s development agenda and members of the assembly cannot allow that,” he said.
“The assembly is losing a lot of money which is being embezzled by a few individuals,” claimed Lydia Odhiambo, a Nominated MCA.
The MCAs allied to the Majority Leader have since suspended the assembly clerk and appointed an interim one. They have also resolved to table a censure motion against the Speaker.
The ward representatives also faulted the Speaker’s decision to adjourn the sittings indefinitely.
“The House cannot be adjourned in somebody’s bedroom; it must be done in the precincts of the Assembly,” said West Nyakach MCA James Omollo.
However, Standing Order Number 109 gives the Speaker the power to adjourn the assembly indefinitely and only she, can reconvene the sittings.
It now complicates matters for the assembly and law experts would question which law was used to reconvene the assembly without the Speaker.
Jossy said she was surprised that even the assembly’s bank account is being tampered with, and unprocedurally the Majority Leader is making attempts to have the signatories changed.
Accusing finger
The Speaker termed the deliberations made after she adjourned the assembly null and void and vowed to move to seek redress in court.
“In the event that some members turn violent and show disregard to the rules and procedures governing the Assembly, it is only court which can make an interpretation,” she said.
The MCAs allied to the Adul on the other hand point an accusing finger at Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma, saying he is using a “divide-and-rule” system in order to benefit from the rift in the Assembly.
“Ranguma has sponsored the division because he wants to escape accountability; he wants to divide the Assembly not to play its oversight role,” claimed East Seme Ward Representative Aggrey Ogosi.
“The division created by the executive is to affect our oversight role and with all this drama we cannot perform effectively,” said Central Seme MCA John Kadede.
And some of the MCAs, said to be ‘guns for hire’ are claimed to be using the rift to fleece money from the executive.
“Hand-outs to MCAs has become the norm in Kisumu County,” claimed Kaloleni Shauri Moyo ward representative Priscah Auma.
Some of the MCAs have raised concern that the standoff could paralyse the county’s operations. “It is open that there are differences between the Majority Leader and the Speaker but the two should not drag members into their private affairs at the expense of growth,” asserted North Seme MCA James Diang’a.
Salome Lungafa, a Nominated MCA said there was a perception that all nominated MCAs were supporting the Majority Leader to fight the Speaker from within, creating the bad blood between the duo.
The county government is currently staring at a financial crunch following the ongoing wrangles.
As the deadline for passing the county’s Finance Bill, which authorities the county government to collect revenue from locals draws nearer, the row in the county assembly now heads to court.
The deadline for passing the Bill has been set for October 23, meaning should the standoff persist, the county administration will be forced to rely on the funding from the national government.
Assembly’s Budget Committee chairman, Willis Ogonyo, said there was need to urgently pass the Bill to save the county from financial crisis.
This comes as the report from the Finance committee indicate a declined revenue collection. The report showed that the county’s revenue collection for the year 2013/2014 was about Sh620 million, a far cry from the Sh3 billion estimated in the last financial year’s budget.
Kisumu County MPs have now stepped in to unlock the stalemate and asked the assembly members to solve their differences amicably.
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