Why ward reps pose biggest impediment to devolution

By ALEXANDER CHAGEMA

Underneath the impeachment and subsequent reinstatement of embattled Embu Governor Martin Wambora by the court and the altercation that followed among the three arms of government on matters of jurisprudence, issues of lack of accountability by the very Members of County Assemblies who initiated Wambora’s ouster and threaten others across the country abound. This needs to be addressed. The onus of accountability should not just lie with governors as a dictate of political expediency because, below them, there are monetary allocations given to the MCAs as trustees of their respective wards. Each and everybody handling public funds must account to the last cent the usage of the money entrusted to them. Accountability should not be limited to a few records ineligibly kept on a black book or ledger that are not accompanied by easily verifiable receipted proof. Drawing an example from Kakamega County, each one of the members of county assemblies has been allocated Sh10 million through the ward development fund to use on any “project of their choice”.

This is not just a euphemism for corruption; it is an open ticket to theft and misuse of public funds. If an MCA deems it proper to award some money to his wife or close relatives to start poultry business, would that qualify as a project and would he get a clean bill of health on accountability?

What would stop the same MCA from giving his friends running kiosks money to boost their businesses and of what value would that be to the development of the county? In addition to the Sh10 million, each MCA is allocated another Sh500,000 for an educational bursary for needy students in his or her ward. ‘Need’ is a word that describes nearly 80 per cent of the total population of Kenya. A combination of inflation and joblessness makes this a sore reality. What is the basis on which ‘need’ is determined?

I am of the opinion that under the new political dispensation, MCAs were given more powers and responsibilities than they could effectively handle without abusing them. The threshold to becoming an MCA should be reviewed upward to allow for people who use their intellect, as opposed to the desires of their hearts. Still on Wambora’s case, Embu County MCAs attitude amounts to a direct challenge on the Supreme Court’s authority and their insistence on re-impeaching the governor on the same grounds the court acquitted him is pure witch-hunt.

Rules of natural justice abhor this. Political vendettas do not bode well for any county’s development. It is downright criminal for elected leaders to continually abuse the mandate given to them by publicly bickering over inanities. And while they are not delivering service, they continue to draw huge salaries and get fat allowance, even demanding grants. Judging by their deportment countrywide, MCAs appear not to be answerable to anybody as they hold sway over governors. It does not help that in their own little wars revolving around devolution, senators and the Executive took an ill-advised bias towards the MCAs, with a selfish view of using them to serve equally selfish interests. The zest and vim governors employed to demand for the expeditious devolution of functions has since waned. Governors unthinkingly reacted to deliberate provocation and because they came out fighting blindly, throwing punches at everybody in sight, they appear to have alienated friends. It was a rush thing to do and they should retreat to re-strategise and have their priorities in the right order.

The biggest threat to devolution today is not lack of adequate funds to run county affairs but the unthinking, unyielding manner of doing things by MCAs who, by all appearances seem to be pushing vendettas and chasing phantoms. They have become extortionists. For the better part of the year, little has been accomplished in counties since a lot of time has been spent at the courts and in meetings where governors have been busy warding off real and imagined enemies. Finally, MCAs should take a look at the book of John 8:7. In answer to the scribes who wanted to punish a woman caught engaging in prostitution, Jesus said, “let he who has no sin throw the first stone”. Nobody did and they all walked away in shame.

The writer is a correspondent for The Standard