Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza opens new battlefront with MCAs over Ward Fund
Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza addresses her supporters outside the Assembly after MCAs walked out on her during her inaugural address on October 19, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The MCAs accused the governor of misrepresenting facts to the Controller of Budget Ms Margaret Nyakango by claiming that they wanted to manage the ward kitty.
- The governor claims MCAs have demanded the allocation of funds to be administered by them and have threatened to derail her administration including declining to approve her cabinet.
- The governor says allocation to all projects should be informed by the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP).
Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has opened a fresh battlefront with members of the Meru County Assembly after she sought an advisory on the Ward Fund from the Controller of Budget Ms Margaret Nyakango.
The MCAs have however accused the governor of misrepresenting facts to Ms Nyakango by claiming that they wanted to manage the ward kitty.
In her letter to Ms Nyakango, the governor claims MCAs have demanded the allocation of funds to be administered by them and have threatened to derail her administration including declining to approve her cabinet.
“The argument by the MCAs is that during their campaigns they made promises to their electorate that they now desire to implement using dedicated allocations to the ward fund to be administered by the respective MCAs,” reads her letter dated October 27, 2022.
“While the primacy of equitable allocation of county revenue, development projects and access to social-economic opportunities to all wards is a constitutional requirement, I believe that the demands by the members for an MCA-managed ward fund may be an illegality and therefore unconstitutional…” she adds.
The governor says allocation to all projects should be informed by the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) which involves public participation through the ward development committees that decide the projects to be implemented.
“During this process, MCAs and the local community are at liberty to include priority projects into the CIDP which are allocated funds during the budgeting process and then progressively provide oversight to the executive,” Ms Mwangaza says.
Ms Mwangaza’s move has opened a fresh controversy with MCAs.
The ward reps are already at loggerheads with the governor with the latest move by the county boss opening up a new battlefront.
Misrepresented facts
They said Ms Mwangaza misrepresented facts on their demands with assembly majority whip Mr Jim Muchui saying the governor’s letter to the Controller of Budget was a “public relations exercise”.
“It has a predetermined response and is misleading and written in bad faith because, all we have asked for is ward allocation,” he said.
Mr Muchui, who is also Athwana MCA, said the representatives wanted to be involved in project implementation in their wards and not manage the funds.
“We understand the law and are aware of the fund. All we want is allocation within the established financial systems since the MCA office has no legal structures to manage any fund,” he said.
“I just want to know how much is allocated to my ward in each financial year so that once residents identify and prioritise projects and in the exercise of my oversight role, I will ensure the amounts allocated are effectively and fully utilised,” he added.
Assembly speaker Mr Ayub Bundi said the ward fund was not new since it was there during the regimes of first and second governors Mr Peter Munya and Mr Kiraitu Murungi.
“Mr Munya allocated Sh25 million to each of the 45 wards while Mr Murungi gave Sh20 million which was not managed by the MCAs,” said Bundi.
Last week, Ms Mwangaza accused Mr Bundi of fanning the conflict between her and the MCAs.
The governor, who has since said her doors were open to all leaders, hit out at the speaker for taking part in protests by ward reps.
The row raged even as Mr Salesio Thuranira, an activist, on Thursday petitioned the county assembly to impeach the governor saying her conduct amounted to an abuse of office.
