A challenge to Kenyan Media houses: Give us the back-grounds of sitting Nairobi Councillors

I was going through the opinion pages of the Sunday Nation newspaper of 27/05/07 when I came across Mutuma Mathiu’s commentary. Titled “Blueprint from the ‘Great African’ leader”, the writer enumerates his vision for the country if elected President. The ideas look good until he gets to the part where he’s proposing drastic changes to local government. I got inspired to write him this letter.

Hi Mutuma,
Just a brief note thanking you for your insightful ideas on what you plan to do if elected President of Kenya. Am sure many aspiring candidates will borrow heavily from some of these ideas.

However, I take great exception to your comments on local authorities as quoted below.

"Local government: Redesign local government by taking away effective powers to collect, budget and spend revenue from kanjuras and vest them in more effective and competent bodies. Mayors and Councillors would be freed to spend their time heckling, fighting and other ceremonial duties."

These are just the sort of comments that Kenyans can do without. What this does is to deepen the stereotype of Councillors as bufoons, without addressing the reasons of how they get elected in the first place and what can be done to correct the situation.

Your appalling solution to the problem does not help matters at all. Why should tax payers be burdened with salaries of people who are not working? We might as well abolish the position of Councillors.

I firmly believe that the dubious Councillors we get saddled with after every general elections, is due to lack of background knowledge on these candidates. If Nairobi voters for example, were aware that they were electing an uncouth fellow who has been a “makanga” most of his working life, they would think twice before doing the famous "three-piece" voting style to elect him as a "City Father".

The Kenyan media where you are a leading practitioner, has miserably failed voters in this regards. With every multi-party elections, the leading media houses in Kenya have faithfully carried candidates profiles at parliamentary and presidential levels. The Daily Nation is currently doing this.

Unfortunately, no single profiling initiative has ever been conducted for civic candidates. Is it any wonder that voters in Nairobi do not know their local Councillors yet they voted for one in 2002? I can bet you ten thousand bob that you probably also don't know your local Councillor!

As a civic candidate for Kileleshwa ward in Westlands constituency, I would like to challenge you in your capacity as a managing editor at the largest media house in East Africa to start an initiative in the Daily Nation profiling current Councillors at City Hall and aspiring civic candidates in all the 55 Nairobi wards.

I can assure you, the knowledge you will have imparted to Nairobi voters will ensure they make informed choices come December 2007. Do this and even you, will be proud to have a Nairobi City Council managed by respectable individuals who have no time for shenanigans such as throwing stools at each other.

I look forward to your response.

Regards,

Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City Hall -
http://nairobicouncillor.blogspot.com

Dancan Muhindi: Background information

I believe it's important for the voters in Kileleshwa to have a good insight of the candidates presenting themselves for elections this year. I would therefore like to share a bit on my background.

I was born on 26th September 1973, in Nanyuki town, Laikipia district. A first born in a family of five children, I grew up mostly in Nairobi, though I've lived in different parts of Kenya through diverse experiences which have shaped me into the person that I am today.

I attended Harambee primary school, situated in Eastlands, Nairobi, before moving to Arya primary school in Kisumu where I completed my primary education in 1987. I was fortunate to attend Lenana school, one of the national schools in the country, from 1988 to 1991. In 1993, I joined the University of Nairobi to pursue a bachelors degree in design, graduating in 1997. In 2006, I enrolled for a masters degree in communications at the University of Nairobi's school of journalism.

Over the last ten years, I've been fortunate to work with leading organisations in the country as an ICT professional, such as the Kenya Literature Bureau and the Nation Media Group. Am currently working with an International NGO supporting small-scale agricultural development in the East African region.

I believe in sharing my talents with the community, especially in matters pertaining to the education of children. In that regard, I'm an active board member of the Kenya National Association of the Children's International Summer Villages, a volunteer organisation promoting inter-cultural youth exchange programmes. Married and blessed with two children, I currently reside in Lavington, Kileleshwa ward.

Do you know your local Councillor?

Many people are aware that there are two levels of governance in Kenya; these are the Central and Local government. The Central government has three arms: the Legislative (Parliament), the Executive (President, cabinet and civil service) and the Judiciary.

Local government is comprised of municipalities and councils run by elected officials known as Councillors.

The Executive and Legislature enjoy lots of media attention, with aspiring candidates at presidential and parliamentary level receiving good coverage through an election year (as is currently happening).

Unfortunately, civic candidates are usually completely ignored by mainstream media houses. Most voters inevitably remain in the dark regarding these candidates, till the elections day.

During this important democratic exercise, most voters will often revert to the famous “three-piece suit” voting pattern in determining their Councillors. “Because I’ve given my favourite Presidential candidate my vote, I’ll also vote in an MP and Councillor from the same party where he or she belongs to,” so goes the reasoning. As a result, many Nairobi voters cannot tell you who their local Councillor is, yet they voted for one during the last elections in 2002!

Sadly, this situation has left room for people with extremely dubious backgrounds and scanty credentials evade serious scrutiny by voters. After securing party nominations (often conducted though fracas and chaos), many manage to get elected through political party “waves” such as the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) momentum in 2002 which bundled KANU out of power.

It’s no wonder that many of our local authorities are riddled with gross ineptitude, mismanagement and mediocrity. They
remain theatres of the absurd, with numerous bizarre incidents being documented over the years on the conduct unbecoming of our Councillors. A recent example is the chaotic mayoral polls conducted on the 20th of July 2006 at the Nairobi City Council (click image at the top). Read the story here.

Here’s what Musikari Kombo, Minister for Local Government said about the incidence.

“As I wind up, I would like to say that the mayoral elections were barbaric and it is something we must deal with. I undertake to bring amendments to Cap.265, that will deal with that area and also ensure that a better calibre of councillors are elected into the local authorities.”

This is taken from the Parliamentary Hansard report of Wednesday 2nd August 2006.

Dear Kenyans, what is the solution to this state of affairs? I firmly believe a large part of the solution lies within our reach as voters. I submit that we have the power to elect high calibre and result-focused individuals as Councillors if we took the time to scrutinise aspiring civic candidates as we do the parliamentary ones.

In that endeavour, I’ve humbly presented myself to the people of Kileleshwa Ward as a candidate for Councillor in this year’s general elections. Please click here to read an email announcement I sent to my friends.

I firmly believe that the management of our councils can be tremendously improved, if a critical mass of professionals is elected to run our local authorities. They should be men and women of integrity, highly competent individuals capable of tackling the challenges of running a City in the 21st century.

Rather than talk and complain about the current situation, I’ve decided to step out of my safety zone and wade into the “murky” world of politics. I hope my brave step will encourage other like-minded individuals to make a difference where it really matters – at the grassroots level. If successful, this vision will eventually impact on the way we conduct our national affairs at both parliamentary and executive levels of governance.

Please feel free to share your thoughts, questions and solutions on this blog regarding our civic authorities. By so doing, we shall have focused ourselves more keenly on civic leaders, and shall no longer allow ourselves to vote blindly at every general election.

The Chinese once said, “ a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

My fellow Kileleshwa voters, our journey to elect a professional and change the way things are done at City Hall has began today.

Sincerely,

Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City Hall -

If you’d like to join this noble campaign as a volunteer, or to donate campaign materials, please write to me.
Email: dmuhindi@gmail.com