MCAs: These are our demands
Members of County assembly follow proceedings during the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) meeting at KICC, Nairobi on February 19, 2025.
The County Assemblies Forum (CAF) has called on President William Ruto and MPs to save the 47 county assemblies from imminent collapse following a Sh4 billion budget cut.
The Members of County Assembly (MCAs) and speakers at the same time demand financial autonomy, the reinstatement of sitting allowances, and the entrenchment of the Ward Development Fund in the Constitution.
These are some of the demands made by ward representatives and county assembly speakers who met in Nairobi on Wednesday, February 19 during a special general assembly warned that the recent Sh4 billion in budget cuts due to the enactment County Allocation of Revenue Act (Cara) will lead to a shutdown in counties.
“The abrupt mid-year budget cuts will destabilise legislative operations and erode progress in decentralised governance. The abrupt mid-year budget cuts will disrupt ongoing programs, legislative processes and critical public participation efforts.
CAF calls on the National Assembly to initiate amendment of Cara in consultation with the Senate to reverse the Sh4 billion budget cut,” Ms Ann Kiusya, the Chairperson of the County Assemblies Forum said.
Cara was signed into law by President William Ruto in December 2024.
The law reduces the budgets of county assemblies by Sh4 billion while the county executive receives a Sh7 billion increase in allocation.
Sergeant at arms and Security personnel intervene as chaos erupts during the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) meeting at KICC, Nairobi on February 19, 2025, as a section of MCAs accused Nairobi County Assembly Majority Leader Peter Imwatok of gagging and intimidating them from voicing their grievances.
This is despite an increase of Sh2 billion allocated to counties through the revenue share formula.
The budget cuts were necessitated by collapse of the Finance Bill, 2024.
Some of the counties bearing the huge reduction in funding include Nairobi (Sh327.4 million), Kiambu (Sh229 million), Wajir (Sh208 million) and Turkana (Sh196 million).
CAF argues that it's unfair for the county assemblies to bear a huge proportion of the budget cuts.
“It burdens the county assemblies which operate on less than 10 percent of total county revenues but they are expected to absorb nearly 30 percent of the cuts,” she added.
During the forum, the leaders also pushed for financial autonomy of the county assemblies as a way of promoting oversight.
County assemblies rely on the county executive for approvals of their expenditure.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna who was the Chief Guest of the event said the County Public Finance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is already in the final stages and will give the ward legislators autonomy.
“The bill is in the final stages and is currently before the National Assembly. We call for the fast-tracking of the bill so that ward representatives will be able to send requisitions to the Controller of Budget instead of being at the mercy of the county governors,” Mr Sifuna said.
The MCAs also called upon the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to reinstate the plenary sitting allowances and review their salaries and the provision of adequate security.
“Most of the MCAs are unable to attend the plenary sittings because they do not have fuel. They cannot move around in the wards since the people depend on them for their well-being. We ask that their salaries are reviewed and improved,” Ms Hanifa Mwajirani, an MCA from Kwale County.
They have also called for the entrenchment of the Ward Development Fund (WDF) in the constitution to ensure that ward representatives carry out development in their wards.
Currently, WDF is unconstitutional with the with the CoB emphasising that it is against the law for members of county assemblies to manage the fund in their wards, as their roles are strictly representation, legislation, and oversight.