Push to bar nominated Kiambu MCAs from voting on ward matters reaches Senate

KIAMBU COUNTY: A showdown is looming between elected ward representatives in Kiambu County and their nominated counterparts after a petition seeking to bar the latter from voting on ward matters at the county assembly was presented to the Senate Committee on Devolution last week.

Ngewa Ward’s Karungo Thangwa handed over the petition that seeks to have the Senate amend Section 19 and 20 of the County Government Act on quorum and voting in the county assembly to Committee Chairman Kipchumba Murkomen.

Mr Thangwa wants voting on motions and Bills on ward matters made a prerogative of elected MCAs only, a move that has not been taken lightly by their nominated counterparts.

Thangwa, a former broadcaster, wants Section 19 amended to read that the quorum of a county assembly is one-third of all elected members of the assembly and not all members, as it currently states.

Section 20 states that any question proposed for decision by the county assembly shall be determined by a majority of the members of the county assembly present.

But Thangwa wants the clause deleted and changed to read that all members of the county assembly registered as voters in a particular ward shall collectively constitute a single delegation for purposes of voting on any substantive matter. The elected member shall head the delegation – just as is the case in the Senate.

RETROGRESSIVE AND DEGRADING

“Each ward delegation shall have one vote which will be by an elected member, and in case of his or her absence, he or she will designate another member,” the petition states.

 “If there are two nominated MCAs in Ngewa, we will have to consult between ourselves and come up with a decision which, as the elected MCA, I will present. In my absence, I will choose one of them to do the voting,” Thangwa explained.

There are 27 nominated MCAs in Kiambu County, majority of who are opposed to the petition because it is “retrogressive and is meant to degrade them”. However, a few appended their signatures to the petition.

Wanjiku Kibe, a nominated ward representative, believes the petition is ill motivated. Kibe said they play a big role as they were nominated to the county assembly through affirmative action.

She said women, who make up the majority of nominated members in the assembly, are being targeted, a position Thangwa refutes.

The issue has already caused division in the county assembly. Recently, Thangwa found himself at loggerheads with some of his nominated colleagues in Kiambu after a section of them accosted him at the chambers and threatened to beat him up, accusing him of disrespecting them.

The Ngewa Ward Representative has recorded a statement at the Kiambu police station over the same.

Jackson Karanja, a nominated MCA who was part of the group that confronted Thangwa, termed the petition nonsense.

He said the proposed amendments will only create unnecessary fights and tension.

But Thangwa insists his petition is not meant to belittle his nominated counterparts but to protect devolution.

“Every elected MCA is loyal to the electorate in their respective ward while the nominated MCAs are loyal to the party which nominated them or the people who may have facilitated their nomination,” he argues.

Among the county assembly matters Thangwa wants nominated MCAs excused from voting include the budget, Finance Bill, Ward Development Fund and any other ward fund and electing or impeaching the assembly speaker and governor.

 “Why would a nominated MCA take part in impeaching a governor who was elected by the people?” he said.

TOOLS FOR HIRE

The decision to formulate the petition was driven by the move by a section of nominated MCAs to walk out during the debate on the County Bursary Fund Bill, leaving the House without quorum.

While receiving the petition, Mr Murkomen said they will study and present it to Speaker Ekwe Ethuro.

“We will study the petition in the next sixty days and hand it over to the Speaker of the Senate for more directions,” he said.

 Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa said he supports the petition and will lobby other legislators to back it.

Mr Ichungwa said issues touching on the electorate can only be well articulated on by elected leaders, saying the nominated MCAs are “tools” used by the county executives to pass retrogressive laws.

The MP says the controversial Kiambu County Finance Bill was approved by all nominated MCAs and a section of “greedy” elected ward representatives before the court nullified it.

But Isaac Mwaura, a nominated ODM MP, said the plot is ill motivated and should be dismissed.

Mr Mwaura said the petition aims to create a situation where elected leaders are superior in the assemblies.

“Even nomination is a form of election like any other and it’s very untrue to say that nominated leaders do not represent the interest of the people. In any case, those leaders were not elected by all voters in their respective areas,” Mr Mwaura said.

Paul Ndungu, a political scientist, said nominated ward representatives serve the interests of the people who helped them get nominated.

“Governors in most areas influenced the list of the nominees, most of who are their machines in the assemblies,” Mr Ndungu said, adding that a majority of nominated MCAs hardly contribute to debates.