mzalendo :: Eye On Kenyan Parliament

• Drought – what happened to government structures?

  Posted: July 30, 2011, 2:06 am by admin

  
  
  

  By Mzalendo Contributor Moreen Majiwa (@mmajiwa)

  Close to 4 million Kenyans face starvation and eminent death this year due to drought and famine. A crisis for which the government had received warning. Contrary to Minister for Special Programmes Esther Murugi’s statement earlier in the year that no Kenyan would die of hunger,  and the government spokesperson’s statement that the government is unaware of any Kenyan who has died as a result of the drought.  The fact is that many of Kenyan’s have already died of hunger.

  The government is and has been appealing to the international community for urgent aid to save the lives of an estimated 3.5 millions Kenyans. Officials and the United Nations say that Kenya needs Kshs 20 billion to provide food, water and other assistance to those affected by the drought and famine. The areas hit hardest by the drought-induced food shortages are in North Eastern Province (NEP), Turkana, Pokot, and Baringo.

  The fact Kenyans are playing their part in helping fight this disaster through fund raising is both commendable but also morally right. So far Kenyans have already donated $200,000 via text messages. However while fund raising provides a short-term solution, the truth is the long-term solution does not rely on the fund raisings. The combination of interventions – government, NGOs and donors are just a drop in the bucket and do not even begin to address the magnitude of the crisis.

  What happened to the government structures from village elders to provincial commissioners, Members of Parliament, Ministry of Development of Northern Kenya & Other Arid lands, Food Security Steering Committee, and Constituency Development Fund?  Will they be off the hook once again?

• The Auditor General’s Report 2009/2010, Will Anyone be Held to Account?

  Posted: July 25, 2011, 7:09 pm by admin

  
  
  

  By Mzalendo Contributor – Moreen Majiwa (@mmajiwa)

  Having an independent Auditor General is clearly yielding results.  The Auditor General’s report for the financial year 2009/2010 was recently tabled before parliament and the irregularities just keep mounting. In the last two months the office of the Auditor General has revealed a myriad of faulty accounting practices, and missing or unaccounted for billions from various government ministries:

  • 4.2 billion from the Ministry of Education (Minister-Samuel Ongeri)
  • 3.6 billion from Ministry of Public Health (Minister-Beth Mugo),
  • 889 million from the Roads Ministry (Minister-Franklin Bett)
  • 743 million from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Formerly run by Moses Wetangula, currently Internal Security Minister Prof. George Saitoti is holding the Ministries brief)
  • 662 million from the Ministry of Internal Security Ministry (Minister – Prof. George Saitoti)
  • 408 million from Special Programmes  (Former Minister Naomi Shaban Current Minster Esther Murugi)
  • 196 million from the Ministry of Lands (Minister James Orengo)

  *And this is not even a comprehensive list?!

  **Ministers Franklin Bett (Roads) and Beth Mugo (Public Health) have dismissed the Auditor General findings.

  The Auditor General reports also reveals that several ministries have an outstanding bill to suppliers of Kshs 16 billion. Named again are the Ministry of Roads, Education, Special Programmes, Provincial Administration and Internal Security other bill defaulters include Local Government Ministry, Public Works, Agriculture, Home Affairs. Irregularities have also been noted in the Ministry of Information and Communication.

  No doubt we will be treated to the usual buck passing – from Minister to PS to subordinate staff and back again – that accompanies such revelations, promptly followed by denial of responsibility and refusals to resign. However lets hope that the report and the naming of the Ministries involved is the first step in establishing mechanisms that will prevent such pilferage from happening in the future, and holding those responsible to account.

• What Foreign Travel by Parliamentary Committees Costs Taxpayers

  Posted: July 21, 2011, 3:47 pm by admin

  
  
  

  By Mzalendo Contributor – Moreen Majiwa (@mmajiwa)

  Did you know that each parliamentary committee receives approximately 60 million ksh for foreign travel?

  If each committee receives foreign travel budgetary allocation of 60 million shillings and there are approximately 27 parliamentary committees (excluding ad hoc committees) that make a total of that makes approximately 1.6 billion ksh for foreign travel alone in plane tickets, accommodation, per diems etc.

  How does this break down in terms of allocation per individual MP? Well, each committee has approximately 11 members (except the house business committee which has 27 members) and each committee receives a total of 60 million kshs, this breaks down to an annual foreign travel allocation of almost 5.5 million kshs per MP and of course that allocation per MP doubles if the MP sits on more than one committee (list of parliamentary committees and who sits on them).

  Another problematic issue is that all the committees receive the same monetary allocation for foreign travel regardless of whether the mandate of committee requires extensive travel or not.  No distinction is made between mandates and need to travel, this means that committees that deals with let say catering or the library, which you would expect would travel less, would receive the exact travel same allocation as the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee, which by virtue of its mandate would be expected to travel more.

  According press reports this fiscal year 2011/2012 alone,  the allocation for foreign travel by committees has trebled to 491 million kshs from 162 million kshs in 2010/2011. The clerks office received an allocation of 35 million kshs, for foreign travel, the speaker’s office 9 million kshs, and the parliamentary service commission has been allocated 30 million kshs.  In addition,  the Parliamentary Service Commission recently increased MPs foreign travel allowance by 20 per cent, after MPs complained about the high cost of travel.

  Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm what all this money is spent on, whether it is effectively spent etc. As long as there is government expenditure on foreign travel it is important for there to be proper accountability mechanisms that tracking all aspects of expenditure on foreign (and domestic travel) i.e. travel to from work, travel on parliamentary business, foreign travel, committee travel. These should be made public so that taxpayers can assess if foreign travel is value for taxpayer shillings or a mode of self- enrichment for MPs.

• CIC Commissioners Salaries

  Posted: July 18, 2011, 12:48 pm by admin

  
  
  

  By Mzalendo Contributor – Moreen Majiwa

  ‘The government is not in support of the exorbitant figure of Sh1.3 million per month for the Chair of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC), Sh1.17 million for the Vice Chair and 1.14 million for the Commissioners. This translates to Sh10.4 million per month, for the commissioners alone, these rates are not only above normal for other state officials but unsustainable.”  Dr Alfred Mutua, the government spokesperson, said in an official statement following the government’s rejection of the salary structure for CIC commissioners proposed by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

  The salary of CIC commissioners was the result of a negotiation between the Treasury, the PSC and the CIC in early May in accordance with Article 17 of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution Act 2010 which states: ‘Salaries and allowances payable to…. the chairperson and the members [of the CIC] shall, pending the establishment of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, be determined by the Public Service Commission in consultation with the Treasury.’   Though the government has rejected the proposed salary structure the Commissioners of the CIC have argued that the amount proposed by the PSC falls within the Band A1 of the Constitutional Offices Remuneration Act of 2009 in which Band A1 means: ‘A salary scale commencing at Kshs. 399, 440 per month, increasing by 39, 940 per annum to Kshs. 439,380 per month; thereafter increasing by Ksh.43, 140 per annum to Kshs. 482,520 per month; thereafter increasing by Ksh.49,140 per annum to Ksh.531, 660 per month; thereafter increasing by Ksh.55, 140 per annum to Kshs. 586,800 per month; thereafter increasing by Kshs. 61,140 per annum to Ksh.647, 940 per month thereafter increasing by Ksh.67, 140 to Kshs. 916, 500 per month.’

  The major implication of the government’s stance on the CIC commissioners’ salaries – which have not been paid for the last 7 months of service – means they  are unlikely to be remunerated until the matter is resolved.   The fallout from the failure of the government and the CIC to reach an agreement on the issue of commissioners’ salaries has resulted in long-standing delay in the hiring of CIC staff the CIC currently operates without a secretariat. More recently the CIC commissioners have stated that due to the ongoing salary dispute bills on Devolution, Police Reform, Lands, Leadership and Integrity will be shelved. With the next election less then 13 months away is there could not be a worse to shelve these particular bills.  The commissioners have also stated their intention to work on a part-time basis an act that will significantly slow down the implementation process.

  While Dr. Alfred Mutua, communicating for the government, is right in stating that the commissioners salaries are above normal (Band A1 according to the Constitutional Offices (Remuneration) (Act 2009) is reserved for the Attorney General and Chief Justice, Commissioners e.g. those in PSC and IIEC, fall within Band A2 or A3).  If the PSC was consulting the Treasury in the CIC salary negotiations, surely the Treasury should have raised the fact that government can neither afford nor sustain such salaries and allowances during the negotiation stage and a more realistic and acceptable salary agreement reached.  If the CIC commissioners’ salaries were negotiated and agreed upon by the PSC, the Treasury and CIC, the commissioners have a right to expect to be paid the agreed amount.   A possible solution of course would be to pay the Commissioners’ the legally negotiated amount and tax both their salary and allowances, just like the salaries of every other Kenyan. But with the majority of the 212 MPs refusing to remit their taxes they have lost the moral authority to insist that other state officials be taxed? In all this confusion one thing is clear there clearly needs to be established an acceptable, affordable and sustainable salary scale for constitutional officers that is acceptable to both taxpayers and the state officers performing the service.

• On Harassment of Protestors

  Posted: July 11, 2011, 6:46 pm by admin

  
  
  

  By Mzalendo Contributor – Moreen Majiwa (@mmajiwa)

  There’s the constant debate about whether we as nation are apathetic or just frightened, particularly when faulty government policy is met with silence.  After seeing police fire tear gas rounds, chase down with batons and arrest at least 15 of the people who were peacefully marching to protest the rising cost of living, I tend to think it’s the latter and not the former.

  Just recently armed police stormed the Ministry of the Education and arrested 10 out of 25 activists that were protesting peacefully at the Minister of the Education’s offices, it still not clear what charges if any have been brought against protestors. What happened to the constitutional right to protest?  Under Article 37 of the constitution ‘every person has the right, peaceably and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket, and to present petitions to public authorities.’ After all the protestors are not defying the will of the Kenyan people they are expressing it.  Look at what they are protesting…the rising cost of living – the country’s inflation was red flagged by the IMF when it hit an all time high of 14.49% in June, the cost of fuel is through the roof, the cost of unga is no longer affordable for the majority – and the theft of 4.2 billion shillings for free primary education. The protests are not an attack on democratic and accountable governance it is a demand for it. It is a refusal by the protestors to be part of the silent in public/noisy in private majority.

  When politicians are wilfully defying the wishes of the electorate, protest is necessary. It is never justified for the police to launch violent attacks on peaceful protestors and that’s not to say that those breaking the law during the protests i.e. looters and vandals should be arrested.  However ,majority of the protestors were peaceful, and dealing with protestors by violently infringes their right assembly.

• Ministry of Education – Where does the buck stop?

  Posted: July 7, 2011, 1:29 am by admin

  
  
  

  By Mzalendo Contributor – Moreen Majiwa (@mmajiwa)

  In a statement issued by the Minister of Education responding to calls for his resignation he stated unequivocally that he could not compromise corruption with his political responsibility by resigning as minister, that he would be committing political suicide if resigned, he also took the opportunity to point out to his critics that he dealt only with paperwork and not cash.

  The utterances made by the Minister are problematic on too many levels to enumerate. Even if the Minister dealt onlt  with paperwork and not cash as he stated, the ‘disappearance’ of more than 4billion Kshs over several years without detection could hardly have been a hard cash transaction and is one that is likely to have involved a significant amount of paper work and cover up.  Surely the sheer amounts of funds missing and the number of corruption scandals that have taken place in the Ministry under his watch call into account his ability to lead/oversee the running of the Ministry, and as the leader of the Ministry doesn’t the buck stop with him?

  Since Chapter 6 of the constitution on leadership and integrity is the benchmark by to which we hold our leaders to account for their actions it could be successfully argued that the theft of 4.2 billion Kshs for free primary education under the Minister’s watch, means that he falls foul of both Article 73 (1)(a)(iv) of the constitution which states that authority assigned to a State officer is a public trust and requires that trust to be exercised in a manner that ‘promotes public confidence in the integrity of the office.’; and Article 73 (2) which states that the guiding principles of leadership and integrity include (c) selfless service based solely on the public interest (d) accountability to the public for decisions and actions.

  From the continuing protests outside the minister’s Jogoo House offices and the increasing calls for his resignation by the public, the Minister in the exercise of his duties has failed to promote the public confidence in the integrity of the office and in fact has done the opposite. In his refusal to resign citing political suicide it could be called in to question whether he is indeed acting in selfless service based solely on the public interest? Further questions about accountability are raised when the minister passes the buck by stating that he deals with paperwork and not cash and that he is not responsible, if the Minister, who is in charge of the Ministry is not accountable for missing funds under his watch then who is?

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes