Nairobi MCAs to wait longer for allowances
Nairobi Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) will have to wait for at least one month to have their allowances paid.
Speaker Kennedy Ng’ondi (above)yesterday announced that MCAs will have to wait until the Controller of Budget (CoB) releases the budget.
“It is not our fault that we are not able to facilitate members in good time. We are faced with challenges of what is happening across the country because there is no money to honor their services in good time,” he said.
The Speaker revealed the arrears amount to Sh60 million.
Ngondi’s address came after the MCAs failed to attend Tuesday’s Plenary sitting demanding an explanation as to why their allowances had not been paid.
On Monday, a section of the MCAs had given a 24-hour ultimatum for the payment to be made claiming that some members were receiving the allowances while others were not.
On Tuesday afternoon, the MCAs threatened not to attend plenary sittings until the pending allowances are paid.
However, the Speaker assured them a payment schedule is currently being prepared by the executive and there have been no payments done since the closure of the last financial year.
“The work plans are normally developed by the executive, so it is not in isolation that you can decide which to approve and which one not to. The Assembly is not independent as we get money from the executive. The issue of some members being paid allowances and others not is neither here nor there and that is politics,” Ng’ondi.
