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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I look forward to your response.

Regards,

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

Dancan Muhindi: Background information

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

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

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

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

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

Do you know your local Councillor?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Dancan Muhindi
- Professionals for City Hall -

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