Dancan Muhindi for Kileleshwa Ward

Time is now ripe for ‘None of the above’ ballot option in Kenyan general elections

2011-09-21T16:03:00.007+03:00

Kenya's general elections planned for August 2012 according to our new constitution, provide an excellent opportunity to introduce a novel voting concept known as ‘None of the above’ (NOTA). This is a ballot option in some jurisdictions designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all the candidates for a particular elective position. It is based on the principle that voter consent in any election requires the ability to say “No”, similar to what happens during referendums. Going by the chaotic, disorganized and quite often violent political nominations that pass for our political parties primaries, its imperative that this proposal be adopted into law as soon as possible by the relevant authorities mandated to oversee the 2012 elections. Allow me to explain.

Unbeknown to most voters, party nominations is actually the place where the integrity of our general elections is most often compromised and not the general elections themselves. A close scrutiny of previous general elections indicates that the disorderly conduct of the nominations is really just a gimmick for the party leadership to impose their preferred candidates on voters irrespective of their popularity.

Anecdotal evidence from the last four general elections strongly suggests that many promising candidates with strong records of integrity have been pushed out of the large parties by their better connected but corrupt rivals, who are often helped along by the party bosses during nominations. These undeserving individuals subsequently go on to win parliamentary or civic seats during the general elections under the infamous but euphoric ‘three-piece’ voting style. That is, electing your MP and Councillor based on the party of your favourite presidential candidate without any consideration to individual merit.

May I add at this point that overall voter scrutiny of candidates is bound to get worse in 2012 with the introduction of five elective positions at the ballot (Constitution of Kenya, 2010: cap 7-9). In addition to the President and Members of Parliament, voters will be expected to elect a Governor, a Senator, and County assembly representatives. These are five elections in a single day! Tragically, this is likely to result in a new ‘five-piece’ voting style.

Most voters will simply not care to check the individual profiles of the many candidates in their counties but are likely to choose based on their preference for national president and his or her party. Many undeserving candidates will therefore find their way into leadership positions by simply hiding behind a popular presidential ‘wave’ in their counties. I don’t have to provide details of the massive looting of county resources and stagnation that is likely to become the legacy of these ‘leaders’.

However, there’s one trump card the uncompromising Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) led by Charles Nyachae can still do to earn their place in our history books – the introduction of a slot in the ballot paper for ‘none of the above’ or NOTA. This is for voters who feel dissatisfied with the quality of candidates on offer at the general elections and do not want to abstain from voting. Quite often, and this is really pathetic, many voters are compelled to choose the ‘lesser of the devils’ on offer - in short, candidates they dislike. If we had this option in the 2007 elections, I would certainly have voted for NOTA at the presidential level rather than abstaining.

In countries where this novel idea has been implemented (such as Greece, the United States of America and Spain), if the NOTA option obtains a winning majority, the election in that particular locality is nullified and another election must take place. All previous candidates are subsequently disqualified from participating. And really why not? Most voters would have sent a clear message that the candidates on offer were flawed. Despite the apparent additional costs arising from a subsequent by-election, the benefits are simply incalculable.

Besides encouraging voter turnout, this mechanism would offer voters a second golden chance to elect a more deserving leader, and for political parties to style up and nominate individuals with credible leadership records. Most important, the country would save billions that would otherwise be lost through future financial scams engineered by corrupt ‘leaders’, and the expensive investigations and litigation processes that are sure to follow such incidents. The introduction of NOTA into our ballot papers is long overdue.

Integrity and local government leadership in Kenya

2011-05-17T17:51:00.016+03:00

Local Authorities in Kenya have continued to suffer due to poor leadership over the years. Various schools of thought have put forward different theories to explain the phenomenon of lowly qualified people, some barely literate, being elected to manage our County, Municipal and City Councils. Whether the problem is due to voter ignorance, an archaic Local Government Act 265 or simply an arbitrary chance occurrence unique to Kenya, the long and the short of it is that residents of these local authorities have ended up receiving a raw deal from leaders whose only motive seemed to have been to enrich themselves at the expense of their voters.

Nearly 50 years since Independence, as many as 75% of our local authorities have been declared financially insolvent due to mismanagement and gross corruption. Speaking at an Association of Local Government Authorities of Kenya (ALGAK) event in November 2009, the Deputy Prime Minister and Local Government Minister Hon Musalia Mudavadi admitted that out of the 175 Councils in the country, less than 45 could sustain themselves financially. The Minister said most of the Councils were in the red and were a liability to the Exchequer, adding that they were formed for political expediency and not economic viability. He added that the government was planning to reduce these Councils to 46 by the 2012 general elections (Source - Daily Nation, Tuesday, November 25, 2009).

This tragic state of affairs is clearly illustrated by scandals at City Hall such as the cemetery saga that took down Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa. He resigned in disgraceful fashion after his arrest and subsequent indictment by KACC officials on October 25th 2010. According to KACC spokesman Nicholas Simani the Mayor was charged with conspiracy to defraud the public and willful neglect to perform official duty as stipulated in the Penal Code. The Nairobi City Council stood to lose nearly Ksh 300M from the irregular purchase of the highly inflated cemetery land. The land was said to be worth less than 10% of that amount. The Local Government PS Sammy Kirui (now suspended), former Nairobi Town Clerk John Gakuo and other senior Ministry officials were also implicated in the deal. (Click to see news video).

Former Nairobi Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa at the Nairobi Law Courts on Tuesday 26th October 2010. Photo credit: Evans Habil/Standard newspaper.

The foregoing is just the tip of the iceberg for similar shady operations in our local authorities documented over the years. Remember the case of the Nairobi Mayor who was said to have stolen the Mayoral golden chain back in the late 90s, and sold the same in Paris for Ksh 150M? Last time I checked, he was running for the Embakasi Parliamentary seat during the 2007 elections. Remarkably shameful I might say.

It’s inevitable to ask at this point whether local government leadership in Kenya has ever recognized integrity as a critical value that all Councillors are required to have. The same can be asked of Kenyans voters. Seriously, it’s high time that people aspiring to be Councillors or County representatives for that matter be evaluated on their record of integrity come next year. Moreover, chapter 6 of our new constitution focuses on integrity as a requirement for all aspiring political leaders and public officials. We really don't have a choice on this issue if we are to move the country forward in the right direction.

A simple reading of the dictionary defines integrity as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. In my opinion, this value in our leaders is perhaps more important and profound than educational qualifications or managerial competence. The moral uprightness of our local government leaders needs to be put under a microscope if we are to exorcise the demon of corruption from our local authorities. As KACC has belatedly discovered, education and technical competence will simply not do unless we examine the moral standing of aspiring candidates in 2012.

In the United States for example, voters established ages ago that a known philanderer can never be entrusted with taxpayers money. That’s why their leaders are publicly asked to resign when their extra-marital love affairs are exposed. The logic from the public is simple - if you can cheat on your wife, you will certainly rip-off the taxpayers without any hesitation. With the culture of mpango wa kando deeply entrenched in Kenya, it would be very interesting to see how this particular moral criterion would play out in our country.

New Kenyan constitution: What will happen to local authorities?

2010-10-08T17:58:00.006+03:00

The dramatic arrest of Kitisuru Ward Councillor John Njenga Kinuthia by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) investigators earlier this week (Tuesday 5th October 2010) on charges of soliciting Ksh 650,000 from a Mr John Mbau Irad allegedly to release the renewal of a land leasehold right, has once again cast an ugly spotlight upon the Nairobi City Council and its infamous “Kanjoras”.

The KTN coverage of the Councillor's arest and his rather candid remarks on camera alluding to the deeply entrenched cancer of corruption afflicting City Hall, astonished and equally amused many viewers. He confidently told the KACC officials that: “You are only trying but you cannot eliminate corruption here.”Click here to see the video.

This incident raises a very profound question on the future of the colourless Nairobi City Council and many other local authorities, especially in light of the new constitution that now establishes County governments as the third-tire of governance and primary units of devolution. With many Kenyans excited about the prospects of improved resource management under the County governments, its important to ask ourselves whether these high expectations can realistically be achieved under the new governance structures.

In all likelihood, the County governments are expected to replace the grossly mismanaged and corrupt 175 local authorities. For the first time, local governments will be headed by a Governor directly elected by County voters after the next general elections. Voters will also elect Ward representatives to sit in the County assembly with an oversight mandate over the County government.

As things stand today, Municipal Mayors and Town Council Chairpersons are elected by their fellow Councillors during what can only be described as cloak and dagger affairs, frequently inundated by claims of bribery and chaotic scenes during the actual voting process. This will now change somewhat with Governor candidates appealing directly to the voters. The winning Governors are expected to nominate their executive committee or ‘cabinet’ from outside the assembly representatives.

On the face of it, this appears to be a very positive development. Unfortunately, I foresee a situation in the 2012 general elections where the current low calibre of Civic leaders simply mutate into the new County assembly men or women. Going by what we’ve seen in the past, the hapless voter will thereafter continue to be fleeced by these pretenders to leadership.

Misplaced voter expectations

I’ll be the first to admit that there’s been lots of optimism carried in the mainstream media and popular discourse that Kenyans will now enjoy greater accountability at the grassroots as a result of the new constitutional structures. But am afraid these lofty hopes are seriously misplaced.

One of the biggest phenomenon standing in the way of these aspirations is the difficulty of electing well-educated, informed and professionally experienced assembly men and women to oversee the County governments. The low-quality leadership witnessed over many years in our local authorities has often been the result of the “three-piece” voting patterns that occur during the general elections. This is where voters elect without any scrutiny, the civic and parliamentary candidates who happen to be in the same political party as their favourite presidential candidate.

With the media completely ambivalent to going-ons at the civic level during election campaigns, I predict that the same phenomena will recur again in August 2012. And this time it will be more difficult for the voters to scrutinise aspiring candidates due to the high number of elective positions that will have to be filled in a single day. In addition to the President and Members of Parliament, voters will be expected to elect a Governor, Senator, a Woman Senator representative and County assembly representatives. These are 6 elections in a single day!

Clearly, I expect to see a scenario where most voters will default to electing ALL their candidates based on their choice of President – and then we shall have for the first time, “6-piece voting patterns” or whatever lexicon will be invented at that time to describe this electoral tragedy.

Solutions to Kenya's electoral tragedy

I call it a tragedy because we shall end up saddled with the same cast of cartoons who have completely messed up our local authorities in the past, now disguised and re-packaged under brand new titles of Assembly representatives. The only solution that can avert this looming electoral disaster is to segregate or delink the various elections so that voters can adequately scrutinise aspiring candidates at all levels.

For example, delinking the County level elections to a separate year from the general elections would have a remarkable and far reaching impact on the way voters make choices at the grassroots level of governance. Many Countries including our next door neighbour Tanzania, have been doing this for years.

This separation will encourage the media to focus on aspiring County leaders and hence enlighten voters to make informed choices. Under this scenario, it will be even possible to hold open debates and media interviews to gauge the competence of aspiring County Assembly men or women.

More important, this approach would ensure that hooligans and goons who have nothing credible to offer voters at the Assembly, don’t get a chance to hide behind a Kibaki, Raila or Kalonzo election euphoria as happened in the 2007 elections. They would have to face the voters on their own merit.

Voters would also be compelled to scrutinise carefully whom they vote for in such an election. After all, you are only voting for your County government representatives and no one else!

Opponents of this proposal have often cited the high cost of holding separate elections as an obstacle to the implementation of this idea. However, I’ve always maintained that not doing so will prove to be far more costlier to the taxpayers.

With a convoluted, multi-level type general election as formulated in our constitution, the tragic consequences are:
• A low-calibre, unaccountable leadership that mismanages limited resources;
• A leadership lacking progressive ideas and policies for their counties;
• A leadership that engages in rowdy fights to resolve differences; and,
• A morally bankrupt leadership that unapologetically engages in corruption (see video link above).

Any apparent monetary savings made from holding one major general election every five years will be wiped out many times over by the above factors, even before the next general elections. If anyone doubts me, I would recommend an honest look at the performance history of our local authorities over the last 40 years.

A case for the delinking of local authority elections in Kenya

2009-09-30T18:44:00.008+03:00

Nairobi's Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa, being sworn in.
Photo credit: www.butterfly.co.ke

The Kenyan parliament is set to start deliberations later this year on critical reforms in the management of local authorities.
The Minister for Local Government, Hon Musalia Mudavadi is expected to present a raft of proposals aimed at amending the archaic Local Government Act cap 265, to reflect modern realities. As citizens, we hope that these reforms will be far-reaching and beneficial in terms of service delivery and competence in our city, municipal and county councils.

There has been overwhelming popularity with the idea of amending the Local Government Act to allow direct elections of Mayors in our local authorities by voters. Although this marks a wonderful start to the reform efforts, I fear it may not go far enough if positions of ordinary Councillors are left unreformed in the process.

The reputation of Councillors in many of our local authorities continues to suffer due to their infamous fights, widespread allegations of corruption, lack of managerial competence and low levels of education. This is hardly the stuff that befits policy makers in modern urban management. We need a thorough reform of these positions to make them more responsive to voters needs in a 21st century Kenya.

Besides having direct elections of Mayors and Council Chairmen, it's high time we delinked civic elections from the general elections. I have in mind the holding of civic elections one year before parliamentary and presidential polls.

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.

Benefits of de-linking elections

This separation will encourage the media to focus on aspiring civic leaders and hence enlighten voters to make informed choices. Under this scenario, it will be possible to hold debates to gauge the competence of aspiring Councillors.

More important, this approach 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 as happened in the 2007 elections. 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!

De-linking civic elections will also help combat apathy in the election process at this level and encourage voter participation and interaction with their candidates. 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 within 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.

As things are today, many voters simply elect the fellow who happens to be in the party where their favourite presidential candidate belongs, without any consideration to merit or ability. This is done using the “3-piece” voting formula where voters elect a President, MP and Councillor from the same party without much scrutiny. Indeed, this is the reason many Nairobi voters cannot tell you the name of the Councillor they elected in December 2007!

Conclusion

Experiences from other established democracies shows that staggered elections could indeed be successful in strengthening local authorities. For example in the United Kingdom, local government elections follow a four-year cycle, while the parliamentary cycle is five years.

The United States of America conducts its local elections every two years, and during the Presidential mid-term cycle. In France, municipal elections to elect city Mayors and Councillors are held every six years while legislative and presidential elections are held every five years.

Closer home in Tanzania, civic elections will be held countrywide next month while the parliamentary ones will be held next year. In South Africa, municipal elections are held every five years, in a separate year from the general elections. The last elections to elect the members of the district, metropolitan and local municipal councils were held in 2006 with the next ones slotted for 2011. This year, Jacob Zuma was elected the country’s President in the parliamentary elections that have taken place every five years since 1994.

For real grassroots leadership to emerge firmly in Kenya, its imperative that we get the foundation right - we must reform our local authorities as a matter of urgency. The current reform initiative offers a wonderful opportunity to do this.

Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City Hall initiative -

Nairobi City Councillors Versus Gakuo: And the circus goes on

2009-03-11T17:09:00.006+03:00

I've been pondering what to write here since this nasty, shameful and deplorable fight rocked City Hall last month (Thursday 26th February 2009).

I believe an earlier post last year on the subject of fighting councillors captures my thoughts very well on the way forward. If nothing is done to seriously reform the local government structures that deal with the election of Councillors in Kenya, we shall continue to witness these tragi-comedies at the City Hall for years to come.

Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City Hall initiative -

State of the Kenyan Nation: What is the way forward?

2008-12-02T11:37:00.009+03:00

Fellow Kenyans, as I write this post I feel tired. Very tired.

In fact am down right mentally exhausted by what I see and read about our country almost daily since the beginning of this year.

Everyday, I listen to the news or read with despair about a parliament that refuses to be taxed, the high cost of basic foodstuffs, a hungry population and leaders who want to escape justice from the Waki report. Sometimes it can get really annoying. And when you listen to other Kenyans talk about these issues, all you get is complaints after complaints summed up in pure frustration.

Something is going to give. Soon. And we may not like the consequences.

I’m not going to repeat here what has been discussed a great deal in other forums, but Kenyans must now draw a line on where they want the country to go. Without a shadow of a doubt, we do not have any leaders worth talking about at the helm of this nation.

It’s quite clear that the leadership philosophy in Kenya is still based on the personal accumulation of wealth and nothing else. There is no visible commitment to a higher vision (despite the launch of vision 2030), no dream, no nationalistic desire to improve citizens’ welfare, but just a primitive accumulation of personal wealth by all means possible.

We can count well-documented corruption scams in this country for hours. I’m not about to do it here. The site www.marsgroupkenya.org provides well-documented corruption reports for any Kenyan who needs to read about the big political names that always get away scot free.

The big question now for all of us who care about the future of our families in Kenya remains – What are we going to do about this state of affairs?

Complaining and verbally ventilating our anger regarding the Kenyan leadership does not help one bit to change the country for the better. People simply need to take charge of their destiny through actions.

When I ran for a civic seat in my residential ward of Kileleshwa last year, I was trying to make a profound statement that one can actually effect positive change in Kenya right from the grassroots level. It wasn’t easy. In fact it was one of the most challenging and frustrating undertakings I’ve ever done in my life. Some of my peers and relatives thought I was crazy.

Though I lost the elections to an ODM nominee, I was happy to have introduced a fresh approach to local politics and shared with voters a glimpse of what is possible with a committed leadership at the grass roots level (see my campaign posts of 2007). I still meet lots of people in the ward who tell me they respect what I did last year.

What do we do now?

My challenge to fellow Kenyans who are increasingly frustrated by the state of the Nation is not to sit there and moan, but to start doing something about it. We are fond of ranting and raving about the leaders, especially in our homes during the evening news or in our favourite local pubs. This just raises our blood pressure but changes nothing on the ground.

Lets not send or forward angry emails that don’t change our lives. We need to get out of our office chairs and do something to change the situation. This is the point where many Kenyans often ask: “Surely, what can I do? I’m just an ordinary Kenyan trying to survive.”

As I saw for myself last year, there’s a lot one can do if they apply their minds to it, even in a small way. For instance, one can even organise neighbourhood meetings, reach out to like-minded peers - begin a culture of holding meetings in small halls or rooms to discuss and implement a way forward for our Nation. It is these little things that eventually build up into something big. This is far much better than doing nothing.

The guys who participate in forums such as ‘Bunge La Mwanachi’ or peaceful street demonstrations are admirable Kenyans who have decided to do something for their country, rather than complain endlessly waiting for an ‘Obama’ to emerge. I really respect their courage against great odds.

The intriguing question for all of us remains: Why must we always wait for someone else to emerge and take the lead, someone else to demonstrate, someone else to speak up, someone else to sacrifice by putting his career or family on the line?

I submit that perhaps we don’t want to rock our comfort zones or our safety cocoons. Or perhaps we just don’t care that much.

Allow me to pose one more question: Do many working professionals hold the attitude - “Let someone else, with ‘little’ to lose do it for me?” I definitely think so and I will explain this very briefly.

Just recently on October 6th, I attended a City Council public meeting to discuss LATF funds for Kileleshwa Ward at St. Marks Church Westlands. These Ward meetings had been advertised severally in the newspapers and through posters (see image). Apparently this didn’t work very well. Besides myself, my two pals, and Councillor Otieno, no one else from the Ward turned up for this crucial meeting.

The meeting was organised to discuss the LATF allocation of nearly Ksh. 4M and determine priority projects for the ward next year. Our deliberations with the Councillor saw the funds getting earmarked to begin the construction of the Waruku Health Clinic (one of my key campaign pledges).

It was a big shame that the Kilimani Councillor, Linnet Mirehane, had no single voter from her Ward to discuss the use of these funds.

I’ve provided this episode to illustrate my point – an overwhelming majority are waiting for someone else to take charge of the country’s destiny and will not bother to step in, even at the most basic level. And we still complain loudly when things don’t work in Kenya.

Perhaps, we are just cowards, content to complain from a distance rather than face our visionless leaders. And if we are a people who lack the courage to confront our corrupt and inept leadership, a leadership that is very likely to destroy our future, then surely we deserve everything we are experiencing now.

If we are not going to do something about it, lets just shut up and get on with our difficult lives.

What shall we do with our juvenile City Fathers?

2008-08-14T11:15:00.030+03:00

If you’ve been wondering what has been ailing our troubled teenagers in high schools across the country, look no further than our elected representatives at the Nairobi City Council.

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.

Local Authorities 9.2 Billion Shillings Payout: Who will account for our money?

2008-06-19T22:37:00.009+03:00

In April 2008, a routine yet significant event went unremarked at the Local Government Ministry. The first 2008 allocation of the Local Authority Transfer Funds (LATF) totaling Ksh. 3.2 billion was paid out to the 175 local authorities in the country. A further Ksh. 1.32 billion was due by April 30th 2008.

Save for a full-page advert (click image) in the main dailies listing the amounts per council, there’s not been a single serious commentary or analysis regarding this money from our mainstream media houses. This being one of the most opaque and least understood public funds in Kenya, it’s important that we pause for a minute and ask ourselves a few pertinent questions regarding this money.

Are members of the public aware that these big sums of their own money have been given out to their ward Councillors?

Are members of the public aware that these funds are meant to initiate and complete various projects in their wards this year?

Are the taxpayers aware that their Councillors do not have ward committees (akin to the CDF committees) to oversee the use of these funds in the ward?

Are Kenyan voters aware that these funds have consistently been paid out to civic authorities every year since 1999?

Above all, can Kenyan voters confidently point out past LATF projects in their respective residential wards?

In attempting to answer these questions, I would like to begin by castigating the mainstream media in Kenya for failing in their duty to inform us regarding the LATF funds and their use over the years. In yet another classic example of this gross abdication, no journalistic enquiry worth talking about has been conducted by leading media houses to examine these funds, even after their disbursement this year.

The result is that few people are aware that public money is available for various development projects at the ward level, besides the much talked about CDF. Even fewer are aware that their elected Councilors have been entrusted with the authority to use this money as they deem fit within the wards. Incidentally, they are expected to do this in consultation with the ward residents.

Nairobi City Councillors receive the highest LATF amounts

This may come as a shock to many Nairobi residents, but it is true that from the LATF allocations in the 175 local authorities, Nairobi Councillors receive the highest amounts based on population density compared to other councils. From the recent disbursments, Nairobi City Council has already received a whooping Ksh. 597 Million for use at the wards level.

This implies that each of the 75 elected Nairobi Councillors is currently in charge of almost Ksh 8 Million meant to initiate various projects within their electoral wards. To appreciate the seriousness of this issue, it’s worth noting that this disbursement is just the first allocation this year by the local government ministry. Two other payouts will follow by October 2008.

During the government budget speech read on 14th June 2007, Finance Minister Amos Kimunya explained: “Budgetary allocation under LATF more than doubled from KShs.3.0 billion in 2002/03 to KShs.6.5 billion in 2006/07 and is projected to rise to Kshs.9.2 billion in 2007/08.”

Indeed, this year’s budget has allocated Ksh. 9.2 billion to local authorities. Nairobi City Council will receive the biggest chunk of the fund at Ksh1.7 billion. I invite you to do the maths and see how much each of the 75 elected Nairobi Councillors will receive from this by the end of the financial year.

However, the big question for the rest of us remains: Who is going to watch over these big sums of our money?

Of great concern to the Kenyan taxpayers is the fact that these funds are not publicly supervised nor are they publicly audited. A most feeble attempt at public audit is captured on the local government full-page adverts in these words: “Citizens should demand regular progress reports from their elected local councils on the use of the funds.”

According to the LATF act of 1998, the closest the funds come to being audited is when the officer administering the Fund (PS Local government) “prepares, signs and transmits to the Controller and Auditor-General, in respect of each financial year and within four months after the end thereof, a statement of accounts relating to the Fund specifying the income to the Fund and showing the expenditure incurred out of the Fund.”

To the best of my knowledge, I’m yet to see, read or hear a government public audit report on these funds since 1999.

The urgent need for Ward Committees

During the civic election campaigns last year in Kileleshwa, my most important and consistent pledge to the voters was the immediate establishment of a ward committee if I got elected. This proposed committee would comprise residents’ association officials and other critical stakeholders, to supervise the use of LATF funds meant for Kileleshwa. This ideal remains even more valid today. (Read my contract with Kileleshwa voters).

It’s obvious that without this sort of accountability on the money and going by what we’ve seen in the past, the money will easily find ‘better’ uses for our Councillors. Indeed, stories abound of people who were financially strapped becoming overnight millionaires during their first terms as Councillors.

There’s no magic or brilliance to it. As Kenyan voters, lets not regale ourselves with these stories in 2012. It’s our money after all that’s enriching a few.

The act needs to be revised by our MPs to enable the formation of ward committees and annual public audits. LATF is at par, if not more critical than CDF when it comes to uplifting the infrastructural and economic conditions of Kenyans at the grassroots.

Used well, these funds have the potential to catalyze some serious development projects in the wards. More so if targeted at informal small-scale business people, agricultural initiatives and the time-bomb that is the ever growing number of unemployed youth.

In concluding, I submit that due to an incredible omission in the local government act, the LATF funds remain a blank cheque given to our Councillors. Its high time taxpayers woke up from their ambivalence to start demanding accountability for their money.

As usual, your views and comments on this subject are most welcome.

Email me: dmuhindi@gmail.com

Uhuru Kenyatta: A poor legacy at the Local Government Ministry

2008-04-11T18:33:00.006+03:00

I write this with a heavy heart, but I believe the truth needs to be stated as it is. Otherwise, we Kenyans will continue fooling ourselves that we have leaders in high positions interested in our welfare yet we don’t have them. The disagreements by PNU and ODM over the naming of a huge 40-member cabinet is a case in point. But that is a topic for another day.

The subject of my post today is motivated by the recent fiasco in the form of the Muthurwa bus stage and the transport chaos that continues to affect residents of Nairobi’s Eastlands estates. The master architect of this myopic plan appears to be none other than the local Government Minister Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta.

Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta. In 2002, KANU presented him to Kenyan voters as a “young” visionary Presidential candidate. Photo credit: www.africanpress.wordpress.com

Lets just take a moment not only to look at his obviously shortsighted traffic plan for Nairobi, but critically also evaluate his background and leadership credentials. We need to do this because the two aspects have a strong bearing on the present transport crisis.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been looking at the chaos that Uhuru unleashed on Nairobi residents in the guise of decongesting the city, and I’ve concluded that he does not have what is takes as a leader to add value to the local government Ministry.

According to various statements carried in the mainstream media, blog discussions and ordinary conversations with people affected by the traffic chaos, there’s a widespread belief that is not being said so loudly. That Hon. Uhuru has no idea the suffering Eastlands commuters are going through because he has never used public transport in his entire 47 years of existence!

Now, this might seem outrageous at first glance, but after careful consideration, I believe this to be true.

Picture this: the man is the son of the first president of Kenya the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. He was born in 1961 when his father was already Prime Minister. Three years later, his father became President of an independent Kenya and remained so till his demise in 1978.

You can imagine the perks and comforts that go with living at the State house for most of your childhood. Am talking about things like being chauffeur-driven to school with state security in tow. Even after Daniel arap Moi took over as Head of State, I highly doubt whether this lifestyle changed much considering that Mzee Kenyatta was immensely wealthy at the time of his death and today, the Kenyattas remain one of the wealthiest families in Kenya.

Simply put, for a person who has probably never had to endure the rigors, frustrations and pains of using a Matatu, Uhuru is least qualified to be making policy for lots of Kenyans who use public transport on a daily basis. The decision to restrict matatus to Muthurwa resulting in thousands of Kenyans walking long distances to work clearly shows the lack of empathy by Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta. I believe a Matatu trip from Buru buru estate to Muthurwa, might be a very liberating and enlightening experience for the Minister. :-)

Uhuru's local governance vision

Nonetheless, I’ve been following his statements as a Minister, waiting to glean some revolutionary ideas on managing our local authorities and I’ve ended up disappointed. Sad to say, but the reality is that the man has not shared a vision, direction nor articulated a well thought-out decongestion plan for Nairobi traffic. What we are seeing is a haphazard implementation of some rookie ideas revolving around Muthurwa market.

Traffic Jam in Nairobi. Photo credit: www.mambogani.com

For a man who presented himself in the 2002 elections as a promising fresh pair of hands if elected President, there’s apparently no difference between himself and the political dinosaurs he was angling to replace. In those elections, he offered his youth as a presidential credential, a sign that he represented a new generation of leadership. Unfortunately, this has hardly been seen in the last 7 years that he has been in the national limelight.

This is not the first time Uhuru has held the local government portfolio. Former President Moi appointed him to that position back in 2001 when he was preparing the man for his unexpected presidential bid in 2002. And even then, Uhuru left no legacy worth talking about at the ministry. Why then should we be surprised when he starts off on the wrong foot at the same Ministry 6 years later?

Since 2002 when Uhuru ran for president, am yet to see anything convincing validating Uhuru’s leadership credentials or tested experience in the management of public affairs. The dwindling fortunes of the once mighty KANU party (he remains Chairman), his poor performance as Leader of opposition in the last parliament and the recent Muthurwa transport crisis lends credence to this.

The Uhuru situation captures very well the inherent leadership contradictions prevalent in Kenya. When we elevate individuals to high office awed by their pedigree names without due consideration to merit, ability or vision, we end up paying a very heavy price for the resulting incompetence. Ordinary Kenyans are today going through an extremely stressful and hurting period in our nation's history because of such poor leadership.

In conclusion, I firmly believe that Uhuru should ultimately leave the running of the City to elected officials at the City Hall. After all, why do we have Councilors drawing 85,000/= each and a Mayor earning over Ksh. 200,000 every month?

These are the people Nairobians elected to provide ideas and directions on how the city should be managed. They are not decorations to fulfill constitutional requirements. For heavens sake, they are using our money and because of this, we deserve the best service possible for every coin we pay them. Where are you Mayor Godfrey Majiwa?

As usual, am open to readers’ views and comments on this post.

Nairobi City Council: Nomination fever a shame on civic leadership

2008-02-15T10:59:00.011+03:00

As Nairobi residents wait for the elections of a new mayor on February 25th 2008, intense campaigns are currently going on for the 25 nominated slots at the Nairobi City Council. Unbeknown to the general public, hundreds of individuals have been camping at the ODM and PNU party headquarters attempting to influence their nomination into City hall.

Hilarious reports from reliable sources indicate that PNU, which was allocated six seats for nomination, has received over 300 applicants! ODM, with 12 seats to fill, has received an even greater number of applicants, estimated at 500 plus individuals.

Clearly these guys know something the rest of the public doesn’t.

I can confidently assert on this forum that selfless public service is not the motivation driving these individuals to cajole and induce party bosses into nominating them.

Allow me to explain why these seats are so attractive.

Just imagine a monthly salary of Ksh. 85,000/= for the next five years, and no job description to talk about. In addition, voters will never ever scrutinize your performance over this time because the media will never put a spotlight on you unless you are the Mayor.

According to the Local Government Act cap 265, you can even go up to three months without attending a single council meeting. The icing on the cake could be the potential deals one is likely to come across at the City Hall. This is definitely a dream job for many people out there. Remember, no CV is required for this job.

These factors might as well apply to many of our recently elected Councillors. To add insult to injury, the caliber and competence of many of these councillors is nothing to write home about, party affiliations notwithstanding. I honestly do not expect much difference in terms of service delivery and accountability from the new councillors. LATF monies remain without oversight while Council meetings are likely to degenerate into the tragi-comedies we saw in the last Council.

Maybe we should borrow some radical ideas from other countries if we seriously want to improve the management of our local authorities. For example, Councillors in the United Kingdom are not paid a salary but rather a sitting allowance. In a way, this ensures that money is not the motivating factor in seeking a council position.

If per chance this was to be adopted here, I believe that Nairobi City Council is likely to attract more selfless and dedicated individuals to offer much needed reforms in urban management. Am open to corrections and ideas on how we can improve this critical local authority. Meanwhile, lets wait and see how the current council will perform.

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Dancan Muhindi
- A Professionals for City Hall initiative -
Email - dmuhindi@gmail.com

Aftermath of the 2007 general elections

2008-01-09T17:48:00.000+03:00

Following the general elections held on December 27th 2007, I hereby wish to thank Kileleshwa voters and indeed all Kenyans for coming out in big numbers to make their will known through the ballot. However, 2008 started tragically for many Kenyans following the announcement of the disputed presidential elections.

My heartfelt condolences to all the families that have lost their kin through the senseless violence that has gripped our nation over the last two weeks. I’m praying for a speedy resolution to this unprecedented conflict.

The Kileleshwa civic elections were highly influenced by what was happening at the national level. The "three-piece" voting style that I’ve talked about previously in this blog, took centre stage yet again. I managed a commendable 4th place behind the three major parties ODM, PNU and ODM-K respectively. This was from a field of 10 candidates at the civic level.

The tragedy of voting three-piece

My campaign experience has clearly shown me that the tragedy of our civic elections can rightly be attributed to the 3-piece voting pattern adopted by an overwhelming majority of voters across Nairobi. Quite a number of people I’ve talked to over the last few days in Nairobi have no idea whom they voted for at civic level.

They simply voted for the Council candidate who was in the same party with their favourite presidential candidate. It was a really uphill battle for candidates like myself who had no presidential candidate in the party!

Nonetheless, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those residents who voted for me based on my demonstrated capabilities and agenda for Kileleshwa ward. I thank you for believing in me and for what I stood for during the hotly contested campaigns. I also thank all those who supported my campaign both financially and through voluntary work.

Over the next five years, I will strive to initiate more development projects in the community where I reside and advocate strongly for an enlightened leadership at council level. I also plan to continue the lively discussions started on this blog while focusing on the performance of our City Councillors over the next five years.

God bless you all. God bless Kenya.

Dancan Muhindi – SAFINA
Email dmuhindi@gmail.com

My contract with Kileleshwa voters

2007-12-02T13:08:00.000+03:00

With the general elections set to take place at the end of this month, the journey that I started at the beginning of the year is about to come to a climactic point. In a tough and yet remarkable year for me, I kept going against great odds driven by a deep desire to offer something different to the Kileleshwa voters – an inspired leadership that would raise the bar for our civic candidates in terms of service delivery.

To a large extent, I believe I’ve achieved that objective considering my limited time and resources. My name will be on the Kileleshwa ballot under the SAFINA party and it’s now up to the voters to decide whether my tested credentials qualify me for the job of representing Kileleshwa Ward at City Hall for the next five years.

This Saturday 8th December 2007, I will unveil my contract with Kileleshwa voters at the Waruku shopping centre during an exciting public rally. The rally will be curtain raised by local music artists led by no less - JUA CALI himself. See image advert on the right.

I have printed cards with this contract, which I prefer to call my Five-point action plans. My take is that action on pledges is what Kenyans really need, not empty promises in the form of grand “visions” and “manifestos” which are never implemented.

I have desisted from using those words because they’ve become such boring lies to Kenyan voters. I’ve been handing out my cards to Kileleshwa residents whenever I go out on the campaign trail because I believe that it’s important for a leader to have something binding on paper with his/her voters for ease of appraisal come the next elections.

It’s therefore a great honour for me to hereby present this contract on the blog for your download and objective perusal. Please click on the image to your right for a close-up of my contract cards.

I invite you to post your queries or comments on the same at this forum. You have a right as a voter and employer, to thoroughly interview me on these pledges before you cast your vote on December 27th 2007.

I’m confident that I’ll pass the interview and that Kileleshwa voters will give me the mandate to represent them as a Councillor at the Nairobi City Council. God bless.

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Get in touch through:
dmuhindi@gmail.com or call me on +254 722 781042
- A Professionals for City Hall initiative -

Free medical camp raises the leadership bar

2007-10-30T16:42:00.000+03:00

The Waruku free medical camp took place last Saturday 27th October 2007 at the Salvation Army Church on Musa Gitau road, Lavington. The event brought together medical personnel from the Lions Sight First Eye Hospital, University of Nairobi School of dental sciences, Diabetes Management Institute (DMI) and the Kenya Society for Deaf Children. Our team of 27 volunteers was able to register over 1500 patients from Waruku, Kangemi and even Kawangware.

This day was a culmination of five months of serious planning and lots of co-ordination between the different participating institutions, the organizing committee and myself. As I walked among the patients, observing dedicated medical personnel at work; I couldn’t help but marvel at what could be achieved with resolute determination.

I frequently stopped to chat to the women, men and children, patiently waiting for their turn to be attended. Their encouraging remarks and appreciation for the community initiative completely validated all the stress we had gone through, especially in the last few days prior to the camp.

Over 30 people were diagnosed with diabetes and were provided with free insulin to last them several months. A similar number were referred to the Lions Eye Hospital in Loresho for further examination that may lead to surgery, at no cost. Over 300 dental extractions were conducted during the course of the day, bringing much needed relief to many people.

Mr. Muli, a 62 year-old man from Waruku told me in Swahili, “My son, you’ve done very well. The toothache I’ve nursed for the last few months is now gone. God will bless you.”

One lady wondered aloud why I was going for a civic seat instead of aspiring to be an MP. “Even the MPs have never done this for us,” was her emphatic statement. “Mama, huwezi kupanda mti ukianzia juu. Lazima uanze chini, kwenye mizizi,” I responded with a smile.

These sentiments reflected what had come to be accepted as gospel truth by the people of Waruku and indeed many other residents of Nairobi; that Councillors do not serve the people who elected them into office and that they were not expected to do so. So it was quite a pleasant shock for Waruku people when I came along and did two major projects within a short time, when other aspirants were doing absolutely nothing but the usual theatrics.

The feedback from the ground continues to encourage me to soldier on with the campaign. Voters are now using my name as a benchmark for all other civic aspirants in Kileleshwa. I’m happy that I’ve managed to achieve my primary objective in this civic race – to raise the bar high for aspiring City Councillors. The beneficiaries of this scenario will ultimately be the residents of Kileleshwa Ward who deserve much better than they’ve been getting.

My deepest gratitude goes out to all the volunteers from Waruku and elsewhere who made the day a success. Many thanks to my friends who put in their time and resources to making this dream a reality for the people of Waruku, Kileleshwa Ward. And finally, a big thank you to my lovely wife, for believing in this initiative even when the going got unbearably tough.

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Dancan Muhindi – Uongozi ni vitendo
- Professionals for City hall initiative -
Cellphone : 0722 781042, Email: dmuhindi@gmail.com

The Waruku Free Medical Day

2007-10-22T16:34:00.000+03:00

From the beginning of this month, I’ve been finalizing on plans for a free medical camp set for this Saturday 27th October 2007. Over 50 medical personnel will come together at the Salvation Army Church compound on Musa Gitau road, to provide crucial medical check-ups and treatment for over 2000 people from Waruku. This is the first time such an event has ever taken place in Kileleshwa.

It’s important to note that Kileleshwa Ward does not have a single public health centre and the medical camp clearly focuses on this issue. The idea behind this community initiative is also to demonstrate that I take very seriously the health of the residents, especially those unable to access or afford medical care. The Waruku residents are especially vulnerable in this regard.

The medical providers are as follows:

1. Lions Sight First Eye Hospital, Loresho.
2. University of Nairobi school of dental sciences
3. Diabetes Management Institute (DMI)
4. Kenya Society for Deaf Children

Fantastic corporate support has come in from Davis & Shirtliff Ltd. with a donation of 2000 bottles of water for the patients. Proctor & Allan Ltd. is also donating 2000 Nutri-rich porridge packs.

Please write or call me if you would like to support in any way towards this worthy community initiative.

Sincerely,

Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City hall initiative -
Cellphone : 0722 781042, Email: dmuhindi@gmail.com

Waruku clean-up campaign

2007-10-05T09:55:00.001+03:00

Last Saturday 29th September 2007 was an interesting day for the residents of Waruku, Kileleshwa ward. They woke up in the morning to witness 46 young men and women embark on a thorough clean-up exercise of the informal settlement.

Starting from the deplorable Waruku CDF bridge to the proposed chief’s office site, the young people of Waruku cleared bushes, trenches and collected garbage from all around Waruku. By the end of the day, there was a remarkable difference in the general appearance of the place.

This event was a culmination of two weeks of planning between a progressive youth group in Waruku known as the Last born generation group and myself. My friends managed to raise some allowances to pay the group, hire a garbage collection vehicle and obtain the chief’s and police permits.

The clean-up exercise was meant to improve the environment of the voters I aspire to lead while demonstrating concern for their welfare. It went very well with the sentiments I’ve been expressing while interacting with voters; that “Uongozi ni vitendo” (Leadership is about actions).

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Please write to dmuhindi@gmail.com if you wish to support this ongoing campaign to have credible leaders elected into our local authorities. Donations in kind are most welcome. For example, cellphone airtime sent to my phone has been extremely invaluable in my communication with voters (The line is 0722-781042). Thank you friends for your great support. God bless.

Insights from the campaign trail

2007-09-21T16:15:00.000+03:00

I've been having quite a dramatic time on the campaign trail. For the very first time, I now truly understand the statement, that “a day in politics is just too long”. So much has been changing on the ground. Party alignments are going on and numerous candidates are emerging at both civic and parliamentary levels. The season of deceit and deal making is here with us again.

As the campaign mood grips the voters of Kileleshwa ward, a general feeling of expectation can be felt on the ground. Over the last few months, my interaction with Kileleshwa voters has been a worthwhile experience. From Waruku to Rhapta road, right up to the numerous residential courts that dot Gichugu road, Kandara road, to Kenya High school and Othaya road, the experience has been an eye opener.

For the majority of these residents, there is a strong feeling that the next Councillor should be visible and ready to interact openly, and frequently with the residents. One resident I met recently on Mwingi road had this to say,

”Yaani, I don’t even know the current Councillor. I’ve never seen him. What do these guys actually do?”

These sentiments are generally reflective of the many voters who reside in the Kileleshwa residential courts. The Majority have no idea who the incumbent is, let alone seeing him.

However, Waruku is a slightly different scenario. I’m a frequent visitor there because it’s quite close to my place. Indeed if you ask me, I’ll tell you that this is the place that should receive the greatest attention by any sitting Councillor in Kileleshwa. It comprises informal settlements that stretch all the way from Musa Gitau road to Kangemi.

Talking to men and women there, the general sentiment is that Councillors (who they know very well) have not been working for the people but for themselves. And this is true because there is no single project that has been initiated by a sitting Councillor over the last 10 years in Waruku. I’ve also checked in the greater Kileleshwa and am yet to pinpoint a single Councillor-initiated project.

Past promises to build a shopping centre, roads and put up public lighting in Waruku have not been fulfilled. The murram roads are a muddy nightmare whenever it rains. Amazingly, there’s not a single Council clinic in the whole of Kileleshwa.

What happens to all the LATF and LASDAP funds that are given out to the Councillor for such community projects? This is a persistent question which many Nairobi City Councillors may not be able to answer very confidently.

A lady shopkeeper captured this tragic situation in Kiswahili for me.
”Tunapowachagua hawa watu, kitu ya kwanza wanacho fanya nikuhama nyumba. Tukiwaona tena, ni wakati kamu huu, time za campaign. Na hakuna kazi ambayo wametufanyia. Wanakuja kudanganya kina mama na vijana kwa shillingi hamsini.”

Translated as - "When we elect these people (Councillors), the first thing they do is to change houses. The next time we see them is during the campaigns. There's no work they have done. They just come to cheat the women and young people with 50 shillings."

When I talk to the younger voters, they tell me that in this year’s elections they'll not vote leaders based on party “waves” as happened in 2002. They believe that this is one of the reasons the Ward ends up with non-performing Councillors.

“Tunapigia kura ma individuals, vile tutawasoma,” says Steve, a young man who resides in Waruku. As we draw nearer to the general elections, I hope and pray that he’s right.

Nairobi City Council: What are the pots and flowers really hiding?

2007-07-31T15:29:00.001+03:00

Nairobi residents have over the last one-year witnessed a remarkable transformation of the Central Business District (CBD). From an urban eyesore with dirty streets and dark dangerous alleys, the CBD is a place where one can walk on well-paved streets and enjoy the sight of strategically placed potted plants. This has come to pass in the short time that John Gakuo, the Town clerk, has been at the helm of the City Council official bureaucracy.

A friend recently pointed out the amazing work that Gakuo was doing with the beautification programme of the Nairobi City Council. “This man is a testimony that with a supportive government and the determination to succeed, one can achieve a lot within a short time.” As we stood on Kenyatta avenue admiring Gakuo’s handiwork, I concurred to a certain extent with those sentiments.

“My misgiving is that he is just one person in a sea of mediocrity holding sway at the City Council,” I remarked cynically. Incidentally, I’ve always wondered why the Mayor of Nairobi, Councillor Dick Wathika, never gets the credit for all the good work.

Nonetheless, over the last two months I’ve been studying a 136-page report that completely shatters this serene view of the Nairobi City centre. Written by investigators from the Kenya Anti-corruption Commission (KACC) and released in April 2007, this report reveals in great detail the horrifying rot behind the façade of reforms at City Hall.

Prepared by the KACC Directorate of Preventive Services and dated March 2007, it’s a detailed examination report on the systems, policies, procedures and practices of the City Council of Nairobi. I have read this document thrice and every time I did so, the enormity of what it says about various Council departments refused to sink in. Let me now share a few thought provoking issues from of this report.

The KACC report on the City Council of Nairobi

Many people will be surprised to learn that the Nairobi City Council has a workforce of 13000, of which only 711 (5.4%) can be considered to be skilled labour. According to the KACC report, this has created a bottom heavy unskilled workforce leading to poor service delivery. The Architectural section for example, has only three qualified Architects who supervise all projects in the City’s eight divisions. The section has resorted to delegating most of the supervision work to draughts men.

This has led to poor supervision of ongoing projects. It’s no wonder we have lots of cases to do with unstable buildings in Nairobi. The Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) recently revealed that 90% of buildings in Nairobi are designed and built by quacks and are at a risk of collapsing. Click here to see the story of the Nyamakima building that collapsed in January 2006 before completion.

Crisis at the Planning department

The KACC report goes further to reveal the current crisis in the department of planning. Against the required capacity of 60, the department is 80% understaffed with only 12 qualified planners. These officers are expected to supervise development over the entire City. Needless to say, they have failed spectacularly in this task. Zoning rules are rarely followed by the planners, hence the mushrooming and haphazard settlement structures that are the hallmark of Nairobi in the 21st century.

The report adds, “The current crisis of over development in some parts of the City illustrates the ineffectiveness of the department of planning. Some of the notorious areas include zone 3, 4 and 5 (Kileleshwa, Lavington and Westlands) as well as Eastlands including Kayole and Mathare North, where illegal and dangerous structures have sprouted unabated.”

The KACC team further established that the Council does not carry out stage-by-stage inspections of buildings. In many cases, inspection is only done for the purpose of issuing occupation certificates after completion of construction. According to the KACC report, many contractors do not adhere to the building codes and regulations. They end up being subject to extortion by Council officers in order to cover up and fraudulently issue them with occupation certificates. As a result, most developments in the City are now condemnable buildings, as they do not meet the expected safety standards.

Mismanagement of public funds

The Council is also responsible for managing the Local Authority Service Delivery Action Plan (LASDAP). This is a community development program funded through the Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF). LASDAP was established in 2001 to enable Local Authorities to enhance community development through local community participation. Unfortunately, the program success has been hindered by mismanagement of funds and poor implementation of projects.

The KACC report blames Councillors for major inefficiencies and lack of consideration for the needs of the community. Community members are often not aware of these funds and are therefore not consulted on their project needs by their elected representatives (I have talked to many residents of Kileleshwa during my ground campaigns and I can attest to this). The result is that LASDAP funds are not optimally utilized based on the approved budgets.

According to the City Council of Nairobi LASDAP 2006-2007 report, Westlands constituency had only spent 10.65% of the funds provided for the years 2002-05. That is, out of Ksh. 71 Million that had been provided to carry out community projects, only 7.5 Million had been utilized to date. This is quite astonishing considering the myriad of community needs that could have been met through these funds.

Shocking accounting systems

The KACC team noted that the City Treasurer is not keen on maintaining proper books of accounts that will facilitate preparation of final accounts. For example, the Council does not maintain cashbooks, journal books, creditors and debtors’ ledgers, nominal ledgers, fixed assets registers, among other vital books of accounts. Unbelievably, the final accounts produced by the Council are therefore based on estimates and guesswork!

The report further reveals that the Council operates 20 bank accounts. Incredibly, no cashbook is maintained for any of these accounts! Consequently, no bank reconciliations are produced. “This is despite the fact that the Council has more than 22 qualified accountants with the bank reconciliation sub-unit having two qualified accountants,” says the report. The really horrible part comes when the investigation team indicates in their assessment that “the City Treasurer and the responsible Chief Accountant have deliberately avoided maintaining the cash books and preparing the bank reconciliation statements.” One therefore cannot verify the receipts and payments of the Council, hence creating a major loophole for misappropriation of Council funds.

The KACC reports reveals that the Nairobi City Council accounts had not been audited since 2000-2001 financial year, at the time of the investigation early last year. Despite issues raised by the auditor general for previously audited accounts, successive Town Clerks and City Treasurers have not taken measures to address these concerns. As a result, there has been continued deterioration in financial management of the Council.

There are many other cases of gross mismanagement documented in this report from all Council departments. What clearly emerges is a picture of a Council tottering under its own weight of incompetence, mismanagement and corruption. You have to read the report to comprehend the enormity of what I’m talking about.

There were times the KACC team found such glaring evidence of outright theft by Council staff that they had to cease their work and arrest offenders on the spot. During a surprise cash count at the main cash office, the KACC team caught the Chief Cashier with Ksh. 866,000/= stuffed in his pockets.

Inquiries revealed a well-organized racket of cashiers, internal auditors, employees of Nairobi Water Company limited and some senior management officials at the Council colluding to defraud the City Council of millions of shillings on a daily basis. This style of management is totally unacceptable for a Capital City that claims to be a regional hub of commerce and investment.

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Dear Kenyans, this report reveals the bizarre reality behind City Hall’s semblance of reforms symbolized by the pots and flowers of Nairobi’s CBD. To their credit, the KACC team has throughout the report given a number of wide ranging recommendations to the Town Clerk that could see the Council’s management practices considerably improved, if implemented.

As I conclude this post with a heavy heart, I would like to urge you to read for yourself the contents of this report by downloading a copy here. The issues I’ve shared in this post are just a tip of the iceberg. However, the question for all us remains: what are we going to do about this tragic situation?

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Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City Hall -
Email: dmuhindi@gmail.com

STOP PRESS: Budget reading for local authorities

2007-07-13T10:57:00.000+03:00

In a historic first, major local authorities led by the Nairobi City Council read their annual budgets to the Kenyan public on Thursday 28th June 2007. In a major departure from the past, various chairmen of the local authorities finance committees read out planned budgetary activities for the financial year 2007-08. Other towns that did the same included Nakuru, Kisumu, Naivasha and Mombasa. In Nairobi, Councillor Mutunga Mutungi of Mbotela ward (Makadara Constituency) read out the largest of the budgets, set at over 8.3 Billion shillings.

This is a first step in the journey to transparency which Kenyans have been yearning for. It's now up to the voters to scrutinise how these funds will be spent, while ensuring they elect local representatives who are keen in using these funds for the benefit of the voters. I welcome your comments and insights on this historic occurence in our local authorities.

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CORRECTIONS - 3rd August 2007.

1. I've recently learnt that the Kisumu Municipal Council did not after all, present its inaugural budget reading on the 28/06/07.
2. The Nairobi City Council actually approved a budget of Sh6.083 billion against an expenditure of Sh6.081 billion, and not Ksh 8.3 billion as earlier indicated.

I apologise for these errors.

Shape the destiny of your Ward: Register as a voter today

2007-06-15T07:48:00.001+03:00

Fellow Kileleshwa residents, I would like to appeal to all of you to join my campaign in transforming the management of our ward this year. The easiest and first step is to register as a voter at the following polling stations in the ward:

1. Kileleshwa Primary School;

2. St. Mary's School;

3. Salvation Army Children's Home (Musa Gitau Rd, off Waiyaki Way); and,

4. Westlands C.T.R (Rhapta Road)

5. Kenya High school - Off Gatundu Rd

The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) started the last round of voter registration on Monday 11th June 2007. The above polling stations are already operational up to the 10th of July 2007. Please feel free to bring along your family and as many friends or acquaintances as you can.

Thanking you in advance, I look forward to your support this year! :-)

PS: On Wednesday 11th July 2007, the ECK extended voter registration up to 31st July 2007.

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If you’d like to contribute to this campaign as a volunteer or give material support, feel free to write to me at this email address: dmuhindi@gmail.com
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Local Authority Transfer Fund: The public fund that Councillors are not talking about

2007-06-02T00:30:00.000+03:00

If there’s one Kenyan fund that has remained hidden from public scrutiny since its inception, then it must be the Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF). It’s one of the eight operational decentralised funds whose aim is to reduce socio-economic disparities and improve the well being of citizens.

Among the eight are the well-known Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and the Free Primary Education (FPE) established in 2003. The most recent is the Youth Development Fund (YDF) established in 2006. Others are the Secondary School Education Bursary Fund (SEBF), Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF), Rural Electrification Programme Levy Fund (REPLF) and the HIV/AIDS Fund.

However, for the purposes of this forum, I’ll restrict myself to discussing the LATF.

This fund was established in 1999 through the LATF Act No. 8 of 1998, with the objective of improving service delivery, improving financial management, and reducing the outstanding debt of local authorities. LATF, which comprises 5% of the national income tax collection in any year (approx. Ksh 15 Billion in 2006), currently makes up approximately 24% of local authority revenues.

At least 7% of the total fund is shared equally among the country's 175 local authorities (Ksh 1.05 Billion). 60% of the fund is disbursed according to the relative population size of the local authorities (approx. Ksh 9 Billion). This implies that Nairobi receives the highest amounts.

The balance of 33% (approx. Ksh 4.95 Billion) is then shared out based on the relative urban population densities. LATF monies are combined with local authority revenues to implement local priorities. (Source - Kenya Institute of Participatory Policy Research Analysis - KIPPRA).

The whole idea of having funds such as these is based on the belief that government at the local level has a better understanding of community needs, and is more capable of delivering improved, responsive and relevant services.

The question that begs an urgent answer is whether LATF has been able to fulfill this aspiration over the last 8 years.

Low awareness levels
A survey carried out by KIPPRA in 2006, established that LATF was the least known fund in the country. Free primary education was the only fund that recorded consistently high levels of awareness (at over 90%) with Local Authority Transfer Fund being the least visible fund at less than 30%.

Similarly, the Free Primary Education Fund recorded the highest rating for impact, with over 90% reporting a positive impact. Guess what, the fund that was rated as having the least impact is…you guessed it right ….the subject of our blog today.

As a citizen of this country and a taxpayer, I have to say that the picture painted by this survey is simply deplorable. If the leadership at the grass roots level is not able to enlighten community members on the benefit of these funds, then what is their mandate as elected leaders?

My understanding is that LATF funds are given out every year to elected local government officials to finance priority projects within the ward. Unfortunately, the law vests discretionary powers on the Councillors to decide what to do with the funds. Residents are hardly consulted and in fact, most people I’ve talked to regarding these funds are not even aware of their existence.

So, what have Nairobi Councillors and specifically the current Kileleshwa Councillor been doing with these funds? Kileleshwa voters need to start asking these questions because it’s their right to know how money provided on their behalf has been spent in the Ward.

Just to give you an idea of how much money we are talking about, my research has established that Nairobi Councillors receive the highest amount of LATF in the country. This is in the region of Ksh 4M per year to undertake at least one project in the Ward.

As I close this post and open it up to discussion with my fellow Kileleshwa residents and indeed other Nairobi voters, lets take a moment to ponder the words of Hon. Charles Kilonzo of Yatta Constituency.

“I would like to touch on the issue of Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) money. The LATF is like a country called Alaska. Everybody knows about it and nobody wants to go there. Why? Because Councillors have taken LATF money to be their pocket money.”

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

My fellow Kileleshwa residents, if you give me the mandate of representing your interests at City Hall this year, my first priority will be to establish a ward committee comprising community leaders and officials from residents associations. This committee will determine priority needs that can be met through the LATF funds.

I’m currently moving from court to court discussing this issue and others touching on the welfare of the Ward. Am open to invitations to discuss more civic issues face to face at your courts, residents association meetings or any other forum.

To arrange this, please feel free to write to me at this address: dmuhindi@gmail.com.

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

2007-05-29T20:16:00.000+03:00

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

2007-05-09T20:04:00.000+03:00

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?

2007-05-07T22:27:00.000+03:00

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