Editorials

EDITORIAL: Counties must observe SRC’s allowances caps   

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Controller of Budget (CoB) shows that Tana River topped the list with Sh150,558 followed by Kakamega at Sh108,172, Samburu (Sh92,372), Turkana (Sh90,505) and Taita Taveta (Sh80,969). FILE PHOTO | NMG

Architects of devolution can today cite many milestones after five years of experimentation but the growing army of greedy and comfort-loving officials occupying county offices is worrying.

Just like their counterparts in national government, the 47 counties have been infiltrated by elected representatives who seek public positions as short cuts to quick riches that mainly accrue from pilferage of taxpayer resources. That is the context in which we understand reports that five county assemblies defied the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s (SRC) guidelines to pay their MCAs above the recommended monthly sitting allowance cap of Sh80,000 between July and December.

Half-year data from the Controller of Budget (CoB) shows that Tana River topped the list with  Sh150,558 followed by  Kakamega at Sh108,172, Samburu (Sh92,372), Turkana (Sh90,505) and Taita Taveta (Sh80,969). If the sheer size of the enhanced allowances raises eyebrows, the timing of the payments should equally be suspicious.

The country was deeply immersed in the electoral politics between July and December, meaning the ward representatives could not have engaged in any meaningful legislative work at the time. That probably explains why counties such as Narok did not pay any allowances to the ward representatives at the time. We can therefore deduce that either MCAs of the five counties conspired with their assembly managers to loot public coffers before their terms ended or that some faceless influence peddlers deliberately bent rules to achieve certain political objectives.

Whatever happened, we must insist that the SRC guidelines be respected by all public entities. While its role is deemed as an advisory one, it is the only public institution that has been equipped with professionals to set pay levels that are commensurate with performance and responsibilities. Managers of any public institution that violates the SRC guidelines must be regarded as having breached the government’s spending guidelines and be reprimanded accordingly. Lest we forget, the SRC was created in the Constitution to bring an end to unbridled looting of public funds in the name of worker compensation.