MPs alarmed by nominations rule

By Peter Opiyo
Members of Parliament are fearful the proposed high number of nominated county assembly members will cut down their authority.
Their concerns came up during yesterday’s retreat for MPs to discuss guidelines on a devolved government in Naivasha.

MPs meeting at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha may have been discussing weighty matters, but that did not stop Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and Water Minister Charity Ngilu sharing a light moment. PHoto: Collins Kweyu/Standard

With opinion polls indicating that most MPs are unlikely to be come back if elections were called today, the new guidelines have further reduced the appeal of running for a parliamentary post, because the nominations will strictly be on the lines of gender and marginalised groups.
This means MPs unable to make it past the nominations to represent their parties in the election will, unlike in the past, be unable to squeeze their way back to the House as nominated MPs.
According to the guidelines released by the Task Force on Devolved Government released to MPs on Sunday, there will be 1,450 elected members in all the county assemblies against 1,124 nominated members.
The formula used by the Task Force is enshrined in the Constitution and MPs might find it difficult if not impossible to get around it without contravening the law.
Siakago MP Lenny Kivuti said the idea "would be like having two councillors in a ward" while Kisumu Town East MP, Shakeel Shabbir, said it was unreasonable to have more than 30 per cent of the members being nominated.
Mumias MP, Benjamin Washiali said there would be no point of having elections if almost a half of the members would be nominated and are likely interfere with the running of the assemblies yet they do not have the mandate from the people.
"A governor may just run the assembly with his members he nominated. What they need is just to have a quorum and transact business. This trend is dangerous," said Washiali.
But the Task Force said the idea is a constitutional requirement and would be hard to alter. According to the proposed Devolved Government Bill each constituency will have five wards each from where the assembly members would be elected.
There would be a total of 2,574 members of the assemblies in the 47 counties.
The MPs are now using the argument that the number of nominated members will unnecessarily increase the cost of government on taxpayers and create bureaucratic red tapes in the proposed county structures.
They are also uncomfortable with the requirement that county governors must have at least a university degree to be eligible for election.
Keiyo North MP, Lucas Chepkitony said the requirement that one must hold a first degree would lock out potential candidates, saying even the Constitution does not require a President to have a degree, yet it is the highest office in the land.
Young-boy governorShakeel questioned if chartered accountants would be considered even if they don’t have a degree as Defence Assistant Minister Joseph Nkaissery stressed on the need to have experience as well.
"What if a young boy comes out of the university with a first class honours degree, is he going to be a governor?" posed Nkaissery.
The legislators, who were being briefed on the six proposed Bills that would shape the devolved governments, said creating numerous boards and committees at the county level was unnecessary, and would stall delivery of services. They also said the proposed number of county assembly members would be unmanageable.
One of the bodies that elicited reactions from the MPs was the Transitional Authority that would oversee the shaping up of the 47 county governments, with some of the Legislators saying it would devolve bureaucracy.
"The idea of devolved government is not to devolve bureaucracy at the village. Give us very lean system that can give us services," said East African Community Assistant minister, Peter Munya.
Another institution under the spotlight is the Budget Council with Rangwe MP Martin Ogindo questioning whether it duplicates the role of the Commission on Revenue Allocation that will oversee allocation of resources to the counties.
Gichugu MP, Martha Karua said it would be unmanageable to duplicate institutions at the county level, and that there is need for lean governments.
"People want lean and efficient governments, cumulatively we will have so many county assembly members. Where you have a Public Service Commission, we don’t need others. When we have the Senate we don’t need a guardian angel at the counties, yet we have a constitutional guardian angel called the Senate," said Karua.
Turkana South MP and Wildlife Assistant Minister Josephat Nanok said the Public Service Advisory Board being proposed is unconstitutional, while Ogindo said numerous institutions would create bureaucracy, contrary to what is expected.
"Bureaucracy is being created here. It is getting heavier than we originally thought. There is need to do a potential cost of county governments, so that Kenyans can know whether it is worth it," said Ogindo.
He proposed that the wage bill should not be more than 60 per cent of the recurrent expenditure of the county governments.
County lords?Chairman of the Task force Mutakha Kangu, however, defended the decision of having numerous bodies saying they were wary of creating very powerful governors.
He said the Transition Authority would not be lording over the county governments as perceived rather it would guide them on what they need.
"Transitional authority shall not be lording over the counties. It will tell the counties what they need because there will be resistance to release resources from the national governments," said Kangu.
His colleague, Polycarp Ochilo, said the institutions are critical for service delivery, adding that their absence will create anarchy and non-accountability.
According the proposed guidelines by the Task Force, there will be structures to absorb the officers working under this administrative unit.
The counties will have to recruit their own staff, and government officers working in the proposed counties will be retained at the devolved level but seconded by the national government.
Under this arrangement, the officers will operate under the same terms of service and their salaries and benefits will not be altered to their disadvantage.
During the transition period, the national government, in consultation with the Commission on Revenue Allocation, will pay the salaries of the seconded officers.
County governments will establish the Public Service Boards that would recruit staff for the devolved units. The membership of these Boards shall be from outside the county governments to avoid conflict of interests.
According to the proposed Devolved Government Bill, democratic governance will be a core aspect and the guidelines give the citizens avenues for challenging decisions made by the county governments through petitions that must be responded to appropriately.
"The county governments will be required to respond to citizens’ petitions at all times. Public communication and citizen participation will ensure democratic governance," said Ochilo.