House team vows final say on devolution

The chairman of Parliament’s Local Authorities Committee Mohammed Gabbow. The House team has vowed to have the last word on the structure the country will take on devolution March 23, 2011. FILE 

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU, ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Wednesday, March 23 2011 at 12:24

Parliament’s Local Authorities Committee has vowed to have the last word on the structure the country will take on devolution..

Speaking at a news conference in Parliament buildings Wednesday, the chairman Mohammed Gabbow and member Mahmud Sirat, said the committee will have the final say on the report by the national taskforce going round to collect views about county governments.

“As the chair of the committee, we’ll treat the report as any other report that has to come through the committee to find its way to Parliament,” said the MP.

“I don’t see it doing its work with finality; I urge them to consult us before doing any report.”

The MPs said the committee will also move round the counties to carry out public hearings “to make sure everyone’s view is incorporated”.

They said their committee won’t be used as a “rubberstamp” of Executive’s report.

“I will not be a conduit of just tabling the report,” said Mr Gabbow.

He said that there were reports that County headquarters had already been determined, and that plans for building the county offices had already been developed by the Public Works Ministry, yet there had been no consultation.

As he reopened Parliament on Tuesday, President Kibaki had anticipated such a clash by MPs on the devolution taskforce’s report and asked them to participate positively in the deliberations.

Mr Gabbow urged the taskforce’s chairman Mutakha Kangu, to ensure that MPs are also enjoined in the deliberations as it goes round with its public hearings, because “MPs are also stakeholders”.

“If we do not agree, we’ll send our own taskforce to go and collect views,” added Mr Sirat.

The Task Force on Devolved Government was established by the Deputy Prime Minister and minister for Local Government Musalia Mudavadi, in October 2010.

Its mandate is to propose implementation mechanism for the devolved system of government as envisaged in the constitution. The team’s term ends in July 22.

At the same time, the MPs said the city mortuary and the city council’s fire department were in a mess and need to be revamped.

They said the city mortuary was “messed up” and that it takes lots of time to locate bodies in the mortuary.

“Even pathologists find it hard to work in there,” said Gabbow.

"The whole fire department has totally collapsed. Whoever is responsible must make sure that the city has a functional fire brigade. This is a disaster in the making,” he said.

Private firms, the military and the Kenya Airports Authority have been coming in to help in firefighting in the city, but then these services are not normally extended to the slums where fires break out every now and then.