Two days ago, in a clear demonstration that quality leadership has yet to be embraced in our local authorities, our so-called ‘City Fathers’ went physically for each other during the Nairobi City Council departmental committee elections. Chaos and pandemonium broke out when the rival PNU and ODM Councillors could not agree on the mode of electing the committee chairmen.
This is reminiscent of another shameful fight witnessed during the 2006 mayoral elections. Elected Councillors resorted to throwing chairs and fists at each other to emphasise their arguments.
Mayor Godfrey Majiwa was compelled to flee the Council Chambers under tight security with Town Clerk John Gakuo close on his heels. Read the full story in yesterday's Standard Newspaper.
City Council Askaris actually threw tear gas canisters at the fighting Councillors to restore some semblance of order in the chambers (see photo). What’s intriguing about this incidence is the fact that these security guards are very junior employees of the same Councillors.
But what choices do they have when Councillors refuse to conduct their committee deliberations with decorum and civility befitting their status? It now appears that violence has been entrenched as an acceptable method for conducting council business at the Nairobi City Council.
Photo credit: Saidi Hamisi/Standard Newspaper.
Mincing no words to describe this culture among civic leaders, a lady Councillor from Karen put it bluntly on Kiss FM radio this morning: “This is very normal at City Hall. You have to fight to get what you want!”
Well, the ODM Councillors managed to get all the committee chairs at the end of the chaotic elections. Their PNU counterparts had taken off from the chambers, perhaps to nurse their wounds.
What a beautiful example for our growing teenagers in high school. No wonder they can't wait to burn down their dormitories when they fail to get a hearing from their school heads.
Who takes the blame for this state of affairs?
It’s very easy to condemn the Councillors for this deplorable behaviour, but as we point one finger at them, the proverbial four other fingers are pointing directly back at ourselves. I would like to submit that we the voters are the ones to blame for this appalling state of affairs in our local authorities. Allow me to explain.
Barely 9 months ago, we all went gleefully into the general elections and a majority of us voted for Councillors we hardly knew based purely on party choice. Very few took the time or effort to scrutinize their civic candidates before casting their votes, relying instead on party euphoria and the “3-piece” voting method to determine their choices. Indeed, how many Nairobians today can point out their local Councillor in a crowd?
This blind formula (yes, blind because we just guessed and hoped for the best) has been tried every time since the 1992 multi-party elections and it always falls short in delivering quality leaders into our local authorities.
In last year’s elections for example, the fact that a voter preferred PNU’s Kibaki to ODM’s Raila for President, did not automatically make the PNU council candidate a good choice for his/her ward, and vice versa. But that’s how the warped logic behind the 3-piece voting method works.
As demonstrated by the recent fight, we have yet again saddled ourselves for the next five years with low-calibre civic leaders who are not likely to deliver any credible services to city dwellers.
When we see them fighting each other at City Hall, they are certainly not fighting for better services for us. The chances are that some of those committee seats (especially Finance) hold the key to very lucrative deals at the council for these pretenders.
How do we get out of this mess?
This debate has come up every time these fights recur at our local authorities. Many people have suggested reforms to the local government act that would impose a minimum educational qualification for civic candidates, perhaps at O level, diploma or degree level. But wouldn’t that also compel a similar law for Parliamentary candidates?
This raises another interesting question of whether literacy levels are indeed to blame for this disgraceful behaviour by civic leaders. I’m open to reader’s views on this subject.
My submission is that we can find credible people to elect, if we de-link completely the civic elections from the Parliamentary and Presidential elections. What I have in mind is a system where for example, we elect Councillors in 2011, while MPs and the President are elected in 2012. We could repeat this again in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
This would ensure that hooligans and goons who have nothing credible to offer voters at the council level, don’t get a chance to hide behind a Kibaki, Raila or Kalonzo election euphoria. They would have to face the voters on their own merit.
Voters would also be compelled to scrutinize whom they vote for in such an election. After all, you are only voting for a councillor and no one else. This way, the chances of electing more credible civic leaders increases dramatically. I have faith that voters can make the right choices given an open and enabling environment.
Despite the extra costs of holding two separate elections in two years, the benefits in terms of quality leadership and service delivery to Kenyans would simply be mind-boggling. I submit that the impact would not only be felt at the grass root level, but ultimately at the national level when we elect our MPs.
However, there is one thing Town Clerk John Gakuo can do as we lobby for these ambitious reforms to be enacted by Parliament. As a matter of priority, he could start by bolting down all chairs at City Hall to prevent Councillors from using them as weapons whenever they fail to agree on anything.
By all means, let us protect the furniture at city hall from these marauding Councillors.
