Control of billions at centre of MPs, governor’s supremacy battle

MPs chat after their meeting at Parliament building Tuesday. [PHOTO: BONFACE OKENDO/STANDARD]

By ROSELYNE OBALA and GEOFFREY MOSOKU

NAIROBI, KENYA: The determination of MPs and senators to sit on committees that will dish out county development cash is at the centre of their current fight with governors.

Despite the fact that they sit on the budget approval benches, the MPs have now found their way to the other end where budgets are drawn and money spent — contradicting their oversight role.

The gateway they will use to get into the boardrooms where county budgets and expenditure are the county budgets and expenditure are determined was at the centre of Tuesday’s joint session, where they agreed that they should be part of County Development Boards that will whittle down the fiscal powers wielded by the governors.

The two groups want the new law forcing their entry into county management passed before June’s Budget, but the governors have vowed to go to court to fight the move.

MPS will be arguing that many of the governors are either corrupt or spendthrifts, with some using the billions channelled into their regional kitties to pamper themselves and launch non-priority grand projects where procurement procedures are flouted.

To buttress their fight with governors through access to more funds, the MPs on the same day also threatened to paralyse government operations in the next three months by rejecting the Supplementary Budget if Sh5 billion is not provided for to take care of their car loans and mortgage facilities.

MPs vowed to press on with a Bill designed to end the governors’ stranglehold on devolved funds, as retaliation for being outshone by county chiefs.

By seeking to have a say in spending decisions by counties, MPs are essentially working their way to the counties’ cash — this year’s allocation being Sh210 billion.

It is payback time as MPs were initially forced to fight hard to retain the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) that governors, backed by the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), had wanted scrapped.

MPs last year consolidated their grip on CDF by amending the law to define the kitty as a charge on the Consolidated Fund under Article 206 of the Constitution. This amendment kept the kitty out of reach of governors as it overruled the provision that defined CDF as part of the money allocated to county governments.

At the time senators, too, wanted a piece of the CDF pie — over Sh20 billion was allocated this year — but their colleagues in the National Assembly beat them.

The two groups have now closed ranks in their push to tame governors in a three-pronged strategy. At the joint Kamukunji (informal sitting) chaired by Speakers Justin Muturi (National Assembly) and Ekwee Ethuro (Senate), the MPs made clear their intention to control the expenditure of county funds.

COUNTY DEVELOPMENT BOARDS

The County Governments (Amendment) Bill 2013 proposes the establishment of County Development Boards empowered “to consider and adopt county annual budgets” before they are tabled in the county assemblies for approval.

Also, the Bill proposes that the Boards be responsible for the coordination and harmonisation of county development plans and projects.

Essentially, if the Bill, sponsored by Senator Stephen Sang, is approved, MPs will have control over spending. Governors have opposed the arrangement that whittles down their powers over management of county affairs.

If passed into law, the Bill would reduce governors to mere secretaries of the board to be chaired by senators with membership from all MPs in a county.

MPs, who accuse governors of refusing to be accountable, say with the new law in place, governors will no longer determine which projects to be prioritised.

The MPs want to enact the Bill alongside another that strips governors of some privileges in two weeks. And they want the board in place before the next financial year so as to have a say in the next allocation.

“We are going to challenge the move to establish County Development Boards in court. If the creation of county boards interferes with the smooth operations of county governments, we will definitely challenge it,” Meru Governor Peter Munya told The Standard.

In case MPs implement the threat to reduce funding to counties from the present 33 per cent to the constitutional minimum of 15 per cent of national revenue, it emerged that members are canvassing for the difference to top up the CDF.

An MP who attended Tuesday’s meeting told The Standard that some of his colleagues argued “for the difference to be channelled to CDF.” Counties were allocated Sh210 billion – Sh190 billion as equitable share and Sh20 billion in conditional grants.

Council of Governors chairman Isaac Ruto was quoted saying the supremacy war is fuelled by envy as governors are controlling huge amounts of development funds.

On Tuesday MPs also vowed to speed up the enactment of the Flags, Emblems and Names (Amendment) Bill (2013) sponsored by Senator Boni Khalwale. It seeks to strip governors of the privileges to fly the national flag on their limousines and to be referred to as “His or Her Excellency.”

Both Bills are now pending before the National Assembly, in the second reading stage, after they were passed by the Senate.

If approved, the Bills will be sent to President Uhuru for assent.

The MPs agreed to have the House Business Committee to schedule the two Bills as early as Wednesday, so that they are debated and adopted.

Tuesday, Ethuro and Muturi met with Chief Justice Willy Mutunga at Norfolk hotel before the Kamukunji at Parliament Buildings to register the legislators’ concerns and agree on the way forward.

Muturi and Ethuro informed the MPs they had a breakfast with Mutunga who promised to “meet judges and discuss recent court orders issued by the Judiciary against Parliament.”

The Speakers said the CJ had agreed to continue meeting the leadership of Parliament as they try to resolve the differences.

REIN IN ACTIVIST JUDGES

MPs were categorical that the Judiciary cannot bar Parliament from executing its agenda and vice versa.

“Both Speakers confirmed having breakfast meeting with the CJ and undertook to hold a meeting with judges and ensure only meritorious orders are granted, and only in the event parties making pleas are likely to suffer irreparable damages if injunctions are not issued,” an MP revealed.

The Standard established that the CJ, however, remained non-committal on reining in alleged ‘activist’ judges. But MPs vowed to introduce substantive motions to discuss the conduct of individual judges.

MPs who sought anonymity admitted it was a charged meeting where they expressed their disappointment with the Judiciary and governors and called for a common position to be taken in dealing with the matter.

“There was nothing new; the legislators’ position has not changed. They want the Speakers to engage Mutunga and tackle the judicial matter,” one said.

He continued: “They demanded action to be taken against the governors who defied Senate summons and individual judges soiling the image of the judiciary.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Billow Kerrow disclosed that the argument from the two Houses is that Parliament has the mandate to continue inviting governors to answer to county expenditure.

“We have agreed that as a committee, we are going to go ahead with invitations to governors. We shall proceed with the process of inviting individual governors to shed light on their counties’ expenditure,” Kerrow said.