Embu County Assembly has adjourned indefinitely in a bid to compel the national government to review the remuneration of ward representatives.
The Members of County Assembly (MCAs) closed the assembly even after the United Democratic Alliance party secretary-general Cleophas Malala warned county assemblies affiliated with Kenya Kwanza against doing so.
The move that paralyses lawmaking in the county is in solidarity with other county legislatures across the country and is in line with resolutions made by the Association of Members of the County Assembly during their congress held on May 3, 2023 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi.
Among other issues, the MCAs are also demanding the establishment of a Ward Development Fund and a County Affirmative Action Fund for Nominated MCAs as measures to further devolve resources to the grassroots. They said the establishment of these funds has deliberately been thwarted in Parliament.
The leaders also want county assemblies to be granted financial autonomy to enable them to oversight the county executive effectively.
The MCAs hold that it is currently impossible to execute any checks or balances on county governments when the governors control all monies in the counties.
The motion, which was moved by Kiambere MCA Lenny Masters, at the same time seeks the reinstatement of payment of mileage allowances for ward reps who hail from far-flung areas of the county as well as sitting allowances for plenary sessions.
The allowances were scrapped by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) at the lapse of the second assembly, while the MCA salaries were also downscaled from Sh124,000 to Sh86,000 before statutory deductions.
Various MCAs who contributed to the motion during the sitting chaired by temporary Speaker Susan Mwende (nominated) charged that their remuneration is not commensurate with their duties and want their salaries to be at least 50 per cent of the Sh525,000 earned by county assembly speakers.
Coming barely a day after the MCAs resumed sittings after a long recess as per the legislative calendar, the motion to adjourn the House aims at providing ample time for negotiations between the MCA association and the national government on the improvement of ward reps’ welfare.
The adjournment has put into jeopardy major county development projects with the making of the 2023-2024 financial year’s budget now suspended indefinitely, only a month to the end of the current fiscal year.
The Kenya Kwanza leadership had directed that the MCAs call off the planned closure of the assemblies but they defied the order.
Mr Malala had ordered all Kenya Kwanza affiliated county assemblies to cease being party to the decisions to adjourn the assemblies.
However, Embu MCAs vowed that they would continue staying away from the assembly until their demands are fully addressed. Embu County Assembly is dominated by UDA ward representatives.
Makima ward MCA Philip Nzangi told off Mr Malala, saying the assemblies should be left alone to do what they want. He said the MCAs have been suffering in silence and Mr Malala should stop dictating what they should do.
"Mr Malala should concentrate on solving the problems facing UDA and leave the MCAs alone to fight for their rights," he said.
The Ruguru-Ngandori MCA Muturi Mwombo said the government should agree to enter into dialogue with the MCAs to save devolution from imminent collapse.
"The government should take our demands seriously and agree that we meet and reason together," said Mr Mwombo.
