Lawmakers admit their perfomance below par

By RUSHDIE OUDIA  and DOMINICK MITIRO

Kisumu, Kenya: Kisumu County Assembly is grappling with legislation of crucial bills one year after its inception.

The assembly is yet to come up with a bill that regulates or guides various sectors of the county. Most of the activities that its members have engaged in are moving motions, which have not materialised to bills. Most of the bills passed are ‘money bills’ aimed at enabling the county access funds.

The assembly’s  Majority leader, Samuel Ong’ou, says they have only passed five bills and 24 are pending.

The Appropriation, Finance, Revenue Collection and the Kisumu County Education Fund Bill 2014 are among the passed bills. The Education Bill, which is an Act of the Assembly provides for an establishment of a fund to assist students and learning institutions to achieve education.

The Education Fund’s objective is to provide funds to be used for granting bursaries to assist students to pursue education in recognised institutions. It will be managed and administered by the Education and Bursaries Management Board, which will be a body corporate with continuous succession.

INCREASING RATES

The County Finance Bill 2013/ 2014 increased rates of various commodities and services.

Some of the bills that have only undergone the first reading are the Mortgage Scheme Fund Regulations, 2014 and the Car Loan Scheme Fund Regulations.

The assembly’s in-tray include Public Participation Bill, Access to Information Bill 2014, Corporative Bill 2014, Public Service Board Bill 2014 and Finance Bill 2014/2015.

Ong’ou says they have prioritising the bills and that is why the money bills have been passed unlike other pending ones.

“The next we want to tackle is the Alcoholic Drinks Bill, which will help the country raise revenue too,” said Ong’ou.

NOT A LIABILITY

Ong’ou, who is also the leader of house business, however rates their performance as above average, owing to the challenges they have met in the past one year. He said lack of interpreters and professional bill drafters are some of the setbacks that have led to the slow passing of bills.

He says insufficient finances is yet  another reason for the dismal passage of bills.

“We have to hire professional bill drafters to do this for us and it is becoming very expensive,” said Ong’ou.

He says some officials within the assembly have also been a hurdle towards achieving much when it comes to generation of bills.

He contends that there are no private bills that have been brought before the house. Some of the private bills set to be discussed include the Nyalenda B Ward James Were’s Ward Development Fund Bill 2014.

“Most bills passed generate from the executive simply because they deal with money. However some are in the pipeline,” said Ong’ou.

He is now calling on the assembly to work together and pleads that no one should sabotage activities of the house for political or selfish interests.

Elijah Omondi, the Member of County Assembly  for Nyakach Central also concedes that the house has not met its expectations.

“Admitting this is not a liability,” says Omondi.