Among the glaring issues in the failed ouster of Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza was the dispute with the members of the county assembly (MCAs) over the allocation of funds to the wards for development. Actually, it was the unspoken most critical issue that ignited the whole impeachment process.
The Ward Development Fund, which was featured during the hearings, is, as it were, illegal. To go around it, what many governors and MCAs across the country have been doing is informally and mutually agreeing on an amount of money from the development budget to be earmarked for the wards annually. MCAs then propose projects after public participation for implementation by the Executive. Wards in some counties thus receive Sh20 million to Sh45 million yearly.
But to legalise this informality, for instance, the second Nakuru County Assembly crafted and passed the Nakuru County Revenue Allocation Act in 2017. It provided that, out of the county budget for development coming from shareable revenue from the national government and local own-source revenue, 55 per cent remains under the governor for flagship projects that cut across wards and sub-counties. Besides, 45 per cent is divided among the 55 wards, according to their size and population. Counties are required to utilise a minimum of 30 per cent of the total county budget on development.
Under this law, all wards get an allocation of Sh25 million to Sh40 million per financial year using parameters of equal share at 60 per cent, the population at 30 per cent and ward size at 30 per cent. MCAs then prioritise projects to be implemented by the Executive.
Nakuru could be the only county implementing such a law, now in its fifth year and has been embraced by the current governor.
That means there is something MCAs can do in the county assembly to help themselves in consultation with and support from the governors, who are the ones to finally assent to the laws to become operational.
Alternatively, the County Assemblies Forum, which brings together all 47 county assemblies, can take up the task of developing a model law that can be universally adopted. But such a law requires early input from the governors, appropriately through the Council of Governors, to agree on a uniform ratio of allocation to go to the wards.
Both forums exist to support elected leaders who drive devolution and their working together accelerates service delivery. Dialogue, consensus, consultation and concurrence are key words in the Constitution and all its enabling laws.
Conflicts should be avoided
But then, sharing of resources is, since time immemorial, highly political and we cannot use legal means to solve political problems. Conflicts should be avoided at all costs. They only work to strain relationships, impede development service and oftentimes evoke backlash from the voters.
This route is faster than waiting for the entrenchment of the Ward Development Fund in the Constitution—which, if it happens, will seal the provision in the supreme law but the process is long and fraught with risks from various quarters which may feel insecure.
But even then, for its inclusion in the Constitution to be effective, the law must clearly provide a specific percentage of the development budget in the counties that should go to the wards. And so, this agreement between governors and MCAs is timely.
Devolution must keep working. Hopefully, the 28 new governors will work so well as to serve their two terms consecutively and seal their legacies, together with the 19 who are serving their second and last term.
The drafters of the Constitution never intended for a one-term governor or President but for exceptional reasons, because, being executive positions, they need longer time to plan and execute projects and programmes that have a long-term impact on the citizens.
On the other hand, with harmony in the counties, we should hope to have many MCAs re-elected—unlike now when the number of ward reps who lose seats in each election year is alarmingly high.
Dr Mbae, PhD, leadership and governance consultant, is CEO, ThinkFirst Consult Ltd. [email protected]
