{UAH} Pojim/WBK: Why central MPs are not happy - Politics | Daily Nation
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Why central MPs are not happy - Politics
Details of a confidential memorandum that central Kenya MPs wanted to hand over to President Uhuru Kenyatta at a State House meeting that was cancelled on Tuesday can now be revealed.
Multiple interviews with the lawmakers point to eight key areas the MPs want him to address urgently.
But it is perhaps what is contained in the document that will likely cause an uproar from other political blocs in the country — regions that have accused the President of presiding over skewed appointments in the public service in favour of people from central Kenya and from Deputy President William Ruto's Rift Valley backyard.
Arguing that Kenya is a presidential system where the Head of State has sweeping powers, the MPs want the President to change the law to revise revenue division so that more money is allocated to Kiambu, Nyeri, Murang'a, Nyandarua and Nakuru counties.
They are convinced the current system gives more to regions with lesser populations.
"The existing system is based on a flawed 2009 census that remains contested. The caucus feels we are getting a raw deal. This, however, does not mean we want to take somebody else's share," an MP quoted a paragraph from the paper.
And in what appears to be targeted at influential individuals around President Kenyatta, the Central Kenya Parliamentary Group say they want him to deal with them and do away with the "kitchen cabinet". The leaders feel Mr Kenyatta has been relying on non-elected leaders to push legislative agenda in the House.
The politicians also claim they are losing out in development projects. They list dams and irrigation schemes as some of the areas they are losing out yet, like other parts of the country, water is a problem in the region.
They also seek to dispel the popular notion that the region has taken the lion's share of State appointments. Pegging their argument on the fact that Jubilee is an alliance between TNA and URP, the MPs allege the region is being punished for having produced the President.
"People from other regions are edging us out. We have lost jobs in State bodies like the Postal Corporation. We want the President to order an audit to find out if this has been as a result of a calculated campaign against our people by the managers there," Oljororok MP John Waiganjo (TNA) told the Sunday Nation.
The lawmakers are also putting up a strong case for sacked Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Kimemia and suspended Roads Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau.
In case they do not make it back to government, they want their replacements to come from the region. This particular demand may partly explain the shooting down of President Kenyatta's choice of Dr Monica Juma as Secretary to the Cabinet.
MPs from the government side, in an unexpected turn of events, defied Mr Kenyatta to vote against Dr Juma's appointment. The document offers a glimpse into why that rare decision was taken.
The MPs give the example of former Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo who was replaced by Mr Joseph Boinnet, both from the same region. They also cite Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery who took over from Mr Joseph ole Lenku. Both are from Kajiado County.
Another "burning issue" in the document they hope to present to Mr Kenyatta is bailing out coffee, pyrethrum and tea farmers.
Coming a few weeks after the President gave the ailing Mumias Sugar Company Sh1 billion to jumpstart it, the demand may be seen as reactionary although the MPs told the Sunday Nationthat do not see it that way.
Central Kenya politicians also lament that they have been sidelined in the running of the National Assembly where they want the Jubilee leadership to take affirmative action.
"Committee leadership aside, we are not represented in the House leadership. Both the Majority Leader, Whip and their deputies are all from other regions," one of them said.
Asked about their push to have a slot in the House leadership, Mukurwe-ini MP Kabando wa Kabando denied there was any rift between the region's leaders and the Presidency, but insisted that what made matters worse for them was that Majority Leader Aden Duale had not lived up to their expectations.
"Take the Thursday vote on the EACC officials for example. Never before has a Leader of Majority walked out on a government motion he was moving.
"Does it mean when, in future, other issues that touch on people from his region arise, he will bolt and become a sectional leader?" Mr Kabando asked.
He said his leadership led to the poor showing by government during Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi's censure motion as well as amendments to the ethics and anti-corruption law.
At the same time, the caucus accuses President Kenyatta's handlers of failing to ensure that the Tuesday meeting, where the MPs were to report back on the ongoing crackdown on killer drinks, took place.
The MPs have tried unsuccessfully, for the last two months, to get an audience with Mr Kenyatta, a situation that has created pockets of rebellion in the President's political bastion.
They are not convinced the Monday night terror attack in Mandera where 14 people were killed resulted in a change of plans.
"We had information as early as Saturday we would not be at State House," one of them said.
In a July 1 meeting, Mr Kenyatta directed the lawmakers to lead in smoking out brewers and distillers of illicit drinks. The MPs unsuccessfully tried to present him with a memorandum of their grievances at that meeting after the President directed that there would be no deviation from the day's agenda.
The forum to discuss the proliferation of bootleg liquor in central Kenya was a perfect excuse for the lawmakers to sneak in the grievances.
On claims that they are losing out on State appointments, Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter (URP), thinks it is a ploy by the MPs to divert attention from claims that certain communities dominate the positions.
"That's a tale of the overfed mocking those who are starving. It is the art of conmanship," he said.
Mr Keter cited the Governor of the Central Bank job and Teachers Service Commission secretary as some of the recent appointments that went to central Kenya.
Ms Nancy Macharia, a former senior director at TSC replaced Mr Gabriel Lengoiboni after emerging tops in interviews just like Dr Patrick Ngugi Njoroge who took over from Prof Njuguna Ndung'u as Central Bank governor.
"Just like when you go to mortuaries, jails, schools and other social amenities you will find us there, it would be wrong to say we dominate public service when it is a fact that we are the most populous. What we are calling for is equity in resource distribution," Mr Waiganjo said of the memorandum.
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