Opinion: It's not business as usual, elected leaders must deliver services

For many Members of County Assemblies across the country, the just-concluded political party nominations came as a rude awakening. Consumed by hubris, they did not see the writing on the wall until it was too late.

Estimates indicate in the Mt Kenya region, 90 per cent of sitting MCAs were unceremoniously shown the door. In Nandi County, nearly all sitting MCAs did not make it past the nomination exercise.

Good riddance, one would say because this cadre of legislators has over the years become synonymous with wastage of public funds. The position of Member of County Assembly replaced that of councillor, which existed under the previous constitution.

Like the councillors before them whose preoccupation was with amassing for themselves and their cronies as much public land as they could, for MCAs it has been a spending spree.

MCAs misinterpreted their role under the new governance structure and expended much of their energy trying to impeach governors who did not pander to their foibles. The Senate, however, stood in their way.

With little fiscal discipline, rather than push development agendas, MCAs often found reason to go on foreign junkets, ostensibly on benchmarking missions that bore no fruit. Indeed, they became such a nuisance abroad some foreign countries placed a ban on them. In the 2013/14 financial year, the Controller of Budget revealed MCAs spent Sh4.9 billion on travel alone.

MCAs would claim money for non-existent sittings until the Commission for Revenue Allocation put a cap on the amount payable per sitting and number of sittings in 2015. At the Governor’s Conference in Naivasha early this year, some MCAs took allowances but did not turn up.

Clearly, a sense of responsibility must be inculcated in MCAs. It is important they understand their mandate is not to enrich themselves, but uplift the living standards of the people in their respective wards.

In most areas, ward representatives are given a budget of Sh10 million and above yet there is little to show for it. Accountability is not negotiable; hence leaders must shape up or ship out.