Vetting teams vow to monitor elected leaders

By Joseph Masha

Kilifi, Kenya: Committees which were involved in the vetting of political leaders before the March 4 General Election have vowed to conduct social vetting of the elected leaders.

The committees which were supported by Community Aid International and Ford Foundation said it was prudent to monitor the elected and nominated politicians to ensure they deliver.

The resolution was made at Dhow Inn hotel in Kilifi town Wednesday where social vetting panelists from Kilifi, Siaya and Makueni counties converged to evaluate the vetting process of respective politicians.

Addressing the panelist, the executive director of Community Aid International Joseph Kwaka said vetting and social auditing of elected leaders needs to be a routine exercise.

“Vetting and social auditing of elected leaders should not be restricted during the campaign period but be made a routine exercise to monitor the performance of the elected leaders,” said Mr Kwaka.

He said Kenyans and civil societies need to take a lead role to monitor and check the elected and nominated political leaders to ensure they deliver. Kwaka noted that politicians have a habit of abandoning their political promises once they get elected.

“Politicians humble themselves when seeking elective posts but they abandon their election promises once they ascend to power,” he said.

The panelists hit out at Members of the National Assembly for pressing for higher salaries instead of articulating issues that face Kenyans.

MPs performance

Led by the Kilifi County vetting panel chairman Shauri Halmu from Pwani University, they said MPs need to address issues of insecurity in parts of the country, hunger and poverty.

“It’s shocking when you watch television as you rarely see MPs spending a lot of time discussing issues affecting Kenyans,” said Prof Halmu.

He said Kenya needs leaders who can make use of their wisdom and expertise in different sectors to push the Government and address poverty and not spend time fighting for their selfish interest.

However, the panelists from the three counties expressed satisfaction in the vetting in the past General Election. Panelists from Siaya said they exposed a woman politician who had used her late sister to vie for a seat.