Show of opulence at devolution conference

It was a mighty display of opulence in Kakamega after county officials arrived in luxurious fuel guzzlers for the fifth devolution conference.

Most of them with lavish interiors, tinted windows to make it impossible to identify occupants, the four-wheel drive machines gave residents a rare peak into how counties have now become the breeding ground for ‘new millionaires’.

From governors to senators, speakers of county assemblies to ward representatives, few wanted to be the odd ones out, arriving with machines that accelerate to speeds of over 100 kilometres per hour in seconds.

Even the police would be confused at times on who was the ‘most important’ to let past the restricted barrier, given that the size of the cars could no longer be a basis. This at times led to embarrassing protocol situations at the venue.

What austerity?

The big cars quickly flooded the designated car parks and the excess would spill into meandering queues that snaked hundreds of metres around the muddied roads adjacent to the Kakamega High School, which hosted the conference.

There was no indication that any of the county governments had received the memo on austerity measures announced by the national government, as the beasts parked all over town.

Officials would alight from their beasts and be whisked into the front seats, walking on thick red carpets befitting a king, their aides saluting, pleasantries punctuated with ‘your excellency’ flying around. Some even had their aides waiting to brush their shoes at the entrance in case they stepped on the mud outside the tent.

Inside, they would spend hours fighting with the national government over resources as they discussed how some of them were broke and chocking in debt due to disbursement delays from the National Treasury. They had already accumulated unpaid bills of Sh99 billion by September last year and counting.

They would also push for swift legislation to allow them set up pension plans for county employees, the only matter left to make their lives as county staff comfortable.

Counties seemed to have decided to buy the same big machines for their officials, a stark contradiction from the austerity measures announced at the National Government, which now leases vehicles or buys lower fuel capacity cars.

The irony is that the cars were not just owned by governors and senators, some of who come from very poor regions, but also the speakers of county assemblies, MCAS and county executive officers.

Despite most officials at the county governments having car loan limits of about Sh2 million, most cars on display cost upwards of Sh5 million.

The most preferred model appeared to be the Toyota Land Cruiser, with some picking different types from of this family, among them the average Prado to the Land Cruiser V8, whose prices range from Sh4.8 million to Sh10 million for used ones.

Nothing about the show of might could reflect the realities of their average constituents at home, or the youth they spoke passionately about when they rose to address the conference.

“Most of the cars are bought from the car loans as provided by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) circular. Some take other loans to top up or find alternative sources,” Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, who rose from being an MCA to the Senate, said in a telephone interview.

Their lifestyle more than reflects the huge wage bills at the counties. In the last financial year, county governments spent Sh130.97 billion on personnel emoluments, representing 60.7 per cent of the total recurrent expenditure and 41.1 per cent of total expenditure.

Maximum rent

This expenditure was an increase from Sh118.65 billion spent in the previous year when the personnel expenditure translated to 40.2 per cent of the total expenditure, taking up at least 20 per cent more of their budgets in just one year.

From the Sh219.95 billion released to the counties for recurrent activities last year, Sh191.62 billion was for the County Executives while Sh28.33 billion was for the County Assemblies.

Currently, governors have a car loan of up to Sh10 million and a mortgage limit of Sh40 million. Deputy governors on their parts have car loan allowance of Sh5 million and can take a mortgage of up to Sh25 million.

SRC entitled MCAs and county executive officers to a Sh2 million car loan to be paid back on a three per cent interest rate within their term in office. The rest of the county officials above them are entitled to more than this as the level of seniority increases.

At that rate, they compare favourably with what banks give their staff and several blue chip companies as a benefit to lock in their best. But the loan must be repaid within their five-year term.

The latest SRC circular has set the maximum rent payable for governor’s official residence at Sh200,000 per month for those in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu counties. Other counties are allowed up to Sh100,000 per month.

Just like the Speaker of the National Assembly, a speaker of the county assembly is entitled to rent of Sh150,000 per month if they live in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu counties. In the other counties, their official residence should not exceed Sh75,000. From June 30 this year, counties are expected to have completed the construction of houses for some of their top officials to stop paying these rents.

Speakers of the 47 county assemblies are chauffeur driven and have public vehicles. MCAs on their part are entitled to huge mileage allowances.

On top of these, some get fuel and sitting allowances. Other avenues of making money for MCAs are blackmailing county governors. They are also beneficiaries of tenders.

This has made most county officials from MCAs upwards better paid than some doctors on government payroll and would dwarf salaries of professors at public universities.

On a good month, they take home 10 times more than an average high school teacher and several times higher than a nurse and a clinical officer at a government owned dispensary.

In their first year of office, MCA’s cumulatively took up Sh4 billion in car loans and mortgages at a comfortable interest rate of three per cent per year.

Unlike their predecessors, they are running development kitties of Sh10 million to Sh20 million from the ward development levies and bursaries. They also have a say on road construction funds.

Officials file mileage claims on the basis of their car engines. The bigger the engines, the more the money. The least paid earn a mileage allowance of Sh109.8 per kilometre for a 90 kilometre return trip per week. This translates to Sh39,528 mileage allowance every month, more than what most entry level school teachers earn, irrespective of the distance between their areas of representation and the county assembly. This is claimed in full even by MCAs whose counties are less than one kilometre away.

Further, members whose areas of representation are situated beyond the 90km return journey make a weekly reimbursement claim. This claim is based on the cubic capacity of the vehicle, meaning that those with fuel guzzlers earn more. This partly explains the appetite for big cars by MCAs.

But it is the committees that are cash cows for MCAs. They are drawing hundreds of thousands every month in sitting allowances from the various committees.

A chairman of a committee earns Sh6,500 per sitting. In a week made of five working days, they are allowed eight sittings, which translates to Sh208,000 per month. A vice chairperson earns Sh5,200 per sitting and in similar numbers of sittings a week, they earn about Sh166,400 at the end of the month.

On their part, a member of the committee will earn Sh3,900 per sitting and this would translate to Sh154,000 per month.

Most MCAs are in more than one committee and this pushes their allowances even higher. In Machakos County for instance, there were MCAs who were in five committees and some could not even catch up with the meetings.

That’s not all. There is also a kitty for special assembly duty allowances from where MCAs with some extra responsibilities draw some additional funds.

For instance, the leaders of majority and minority earn Sh32,000 per month and the chief whips, deputy leaders of minority and majority each draw an extra Sh29,000 per month.

Kenya has about 2,500 MCAs.