World Bank project tears counties apart as leaders bicker

A World Bank infrastructure development programme targeting counties is threatening to tear some of the devolved units apart as divisions emerge among leaders over identification of areas to benefit.

Also raising questions is how disbursement started when some counties have not met some of the minimum conditions set out by the World Bank.

The Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP) is a five-year project targeting 45 counties across the country aimed at improving infrastructure.

Only Nairobi and Mombasa counties have not been included in the project.

To qualify for the funding which is being channelled through the State Department of Housing and Urban Development, counties are required to establish municipalities within their jurisdictions, appoint members of the municipal boards and hire a municipal manager, among other minimum conditions.

MUNICIPALS

But the identification of urban centres to elevate to municipal centres has become a thorny issue which now threatens the implementation of the programme.

The process of identifying and bestowing municipal status has been marred by claims of favouritism and falsification of population figures to meet the threshold required.

Some counties have already received Sh50 million from the World Bank for capacity-building yet the municipal boards and managers who are supposed to be trained have yet to be appointed.

Nowhere is this more pronounced than in Migori County where three constituencies — Kuria West, Kuria East and Nyatike — have rejected Governor Okoth Obado’s decision to designate neighbouring constituencies of Awendo, Rongo and Migori as the only municipal councils, making them the only beneficiaries.

In a county as cosmopolitan as Migori, the selection of the three constituencies dominated by the Luo community and excluding the entire Kuria constituencies has not been taken lightly.

BIAS

Leaders from Kuria claim that one of the two major municipalities in the region — Kehancha and Isebania — ought to have been considered for the project in the spirit of fairness and equitable distribution of resources.

Kuria East MP Marwa Kitayama vowed to block the World Bank project from taking off until one of the municipalities in Kuria is brought on board.

"We are not going to allow Migori County to marginalise Kuria region. We cannot understand why the WB project is being taken to the Luo side yet Kuria region has got the two biggest municipalities after Migori. Not even one of the municipalities has been considered," Mr Kitayama said.

He went on: "The ad hoc committee constituted by Governor Obado and which did not have a single Kuria as a member came up with a report that listed Kehancha and Isebania as the second and third respectively in terms of population density, hence qualified for urban status.

"Awendo and Rongo came a distant third. Because they are hell-bent on marginalising Kuria community, the millions of money granted by WB to develop municipalities has been taken to the Luo side."

COOPERATION

The vocal MP accused the World Bank of causing a rift between the Luo and Kuria communities.

"We were peaceful before WB came. Now they want to divide us. Migori being cosmopolitan, WB should have taken the role of determining which municipalities to benefit, not leaving the partisan county government to decide. We are saying it is either we all benefit or we all lose," Mr Kitayama added.

The sentiments are shared by Nyatike MP Tom Odege who says that Governor Obado’s decision to sideline other regions is a recipe for chaos. “We are not saying that Migori, Awendo and Rongo should not benefit. All we are asking for is fairness in the distribution of resources,” said Mr Odege.

While launching KUSP on January 24, Mr Obado had accused leaders who are questioning the rationale used in the identification of the urban centres as being ‘hell-bent in giving me bad publicity’.

“Let them come so that we join hands to develop the people of Migori. If there are any gaps that I have not filled, then I want to challenge them that it is also their responsibility to come and share with me so that we all move together,” Mr Obado said.

A court case has been filed seeking to stop the recruitment of municipal boards and managers.

COVERAGE

In Tharaka-Nithi County, the Kathwana Municipality Board was inaugurated on November 28, 2018 and adopted by the County Assembly through majority votes.

However, a section of the members voted against it, arguing that some wards were not represented while others were over-represented.

Residents of Mariani ward led by their MCA Erastus Kinyua and those of Chiakariga argued that the municipality should cover a five-kilometre radius as earlier proposed by the county government under former governor Samuel Ragwa.

They also argued that the proposed municipality covers part of Chuka municipality, which is the biggest town in the county.

Some residents have threatened to move to court to stop implementation of the plan until their grievances are addressed.

CONSULTATION

In Tana River County, Governor Dhadho Godhana’s attempt to push through a charter establishing municipalities within the county as required by KUSP has been met with opposition from MCAs and residents.

Some of the ward reps have threatened to lead a campaign that will see the proposed charter thrown out of the assembly, saying there was no public participation.

However, Mr Godhana maintains that all procedures were followed, as all dates for public participation were announced and minutes for the same were available.

Though the programme has started in many counties, the appointment of the boards and managers have not been completed, with many still waiting for county assemblies to approve the nominees.

In Nyandarua County, for instance, Ol Kalou town — which is also the county headquarters — is the only municipality earmarked to get a Sh176 million World Bank funding.

CONDITIONS

And even though disbursement of funds to counties has started, there is still no municipal board.

“We have already employed a municipality manager and submitted a list of shortlisted municipality board members to the assembly for vetting and approval," Lands, Urban Development and Planning executive Lawrence Mukundi said.

He said the board will be operational by mid-February. The minimum conditions set for the disbursement of funds was that the municipalities must have functional boards and managers.

The same situation prevails in Elgeyo-Marakwet where Governor Alex Tolgos is still waiting on the county assembly to vet and approve his nominees for municipal board.

Principal Secretary Charles Hinga, whose State Department of Housing and Urban Development is the implementing agency of KUSP, did not respond to these emerging issues.

He said he was out of the country and the earliest he could respond is next week.

While a number of counties have had challenges bringing everyone on board to implement KUSP, some like Meru, Nakuru, Murang’a, Kisii and Nyamira have inaugurated their boards after the municipal charters were adopted. Some of them approved the boards last year.

By Walter Menya, Eric Matara, Ruth Mbula, Waikwa Maina, Ndungu Gachane, Alex Njeru, Vivere Nandiemo, Stephen Oduor and David Muchui