Nairobi county assembly too broke to pay for MCAs’ trip to devolution conference
Members of Nairobi County Assembly members failed to travel to Naivasha for the fourth Devolution Conference in Naivasha due to lack of funds.
The angry MCAs on Tuesday took to the floor of the house to express their displeasure at the county service board for not facilitating their attendance at the event.
They also demanded for an adjournment of the house’s sittings so they could attend the remaining three days of the conference.
A special motion of adjournment was also moved by the Nyayo Highrise MCA Akuk Maurice Omondi.
But despite wide support, deputy Speaker Ken Ngondi declined to propose the question and instead told members they could not attend the conference due technical reasons.
Mr Ngondi told the MCAs that the assembly lacked resources to take them to Naivasha for four days.
“As much as we may register our displeasure, what we want to be done has already been overtaken by events in the first place. The members did not request the assembly to adjourn at the right time, we do not have a calendar to operate on and the county assembly does not have power of resources,” said Mr Ngondi.
The deputy Speaker said the assembly would organise a session to interrogate deliberations at the devolution conference as soon as possible.
The House Committee, which arranges the calendar of the assembly, agreed that MCAs will be taken to Naivasha after the recess on April 6, 2017 to talk on the status of devolution in the country.
Peter Anyule Imwatok, MCA Makongeni, insisted that money is available since for the last two weeks committees have been meeting in Naivasha and a team of the Labour Committee is in Panama.
“The issue of funds is not holding water as the devolution conference is in every calendar of the 47 counties. The service board should not determine what conference members should be attending. The game plan was that we must pass the (House) calendar so that they can approve the conference,”said Mr Imwatok.
Stephen Kambi, MCA Dandora Area II, wanted the motion for adjournment moved with amendments that the days they missed at the Devolution Conference be compensated on a later workshop where members would recap on what they missed.
