Serious test for President Uhuru team on first major task
Hillary Mageka @hillarymageka
When Jubilee Party made a complete overhaul of its leadership in the Senate, the intention was to streamline its representation in Parliament to have an easier time on matters legislation. So ruthless was the purge that it also claimed leaders of House committees.
However, it has been a false start for the new leaders. While opinion is divided on whether the Senate leadership team has delivered its mandate, recent events have shown that the assignment has not been a walk in the park.
Indeed the team is facing an uphill task on its first major assignment; to push through the Third Basis formula for revenue sharing among county governments.
The team led by Majority Leader Samuel Poghisio, Chief Whip Irungu Kang’ata as well as deputy Speaker Margaret Kamar, was picked to replace Kipchumba Murkomen, Susan Kihika and Prof Kithure Kindiki, respectively.
For a record eighth time, the Senate last week failed to make a decision on the controversial cash sharing formula, prompting a warning from governors that counties operations risk being grounded because of lack of finances as a result of the stalemate.
However, going by several adjournment motions fronted by “Team Kenya”, a caucus of senators opposed to the formula developed by the Committee on Finance and subsequent amendments to the report, has exposed the soft underbelly of the people the President has mandated to push his agenda in the House.
Murkomen, with the help of Minority Whip Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni) and Senators Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi), Ledama ole Kina (Narok), Stewart Madzayo (Kilifi) and Mandera’s Mahamud Mohamed, have not only thwarted efforts by Uhuru’s team to pass the formula but have also submitted tough demands.
In addition, Senator Kang’ata, the President’s key ally, stands accused of intimidating his colleagues, telling them they will be de-whipped from committees or pursued for tax demands and related personal issues.
“Personally, he (Kang’ata) called me and told me they will freeze my bank accounts and KRA will be on my case very soon, that came to pass,” Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala said in an interview with People Daily yesterday.
“Irungu Kang’ata and his cartel, went and logged into my KRA account, and found there was some Sh8 million that had not been remitted by my employer as PAYE, they took that figure and peddled lies that I had issues with KRA,” Malala, the deputy Minority Leader, added.
He said he had since sorted out the discrepancies in his tax arrears which, he said, was a failure by his employer to remit the money.
Madzayo said the government side led by Poghisio and Kang’ata had failed and “clearly the task they had been given by the President has become too heavy and they should be relieved and handed lighter duties”.
“Senator Kang’ata cannot lobby or convince even one senator to cross either side of the floor.
There is every reason for us to have consensus so that Kenya remains one indivisible nation,” Madzayo said last Tuesday after the House failed to make a decision on the controversial revenue debate.
Hard-hitting statement
In a hard-hitting statement, Narok’s ole Kina termed the Kamar-Poghisio-Kang’ata leadership as one that will go down in the history of Parliament as a group that was succumbed to “some remote control devices.”
“They have failed to lead us, but they are issuing threats and intimidating us.
We were elected, therefore, there should be a difference between elected leaders and somebody who is appointed out there to call the shots,” the senator told People Daily yesterday.
However, political pundits argue it is too early to judge the new Senate leadership as ‘failures’ based on the revenue vote where the Murkomen-Sakaja-Mutula axis has carried the day on three occasions, the latest being Meru Senator Mithika Linturi’s amendment, which carried 25 votes against 20.
In his amendment, Linturi proposed that the formula should only apply to allocations above Sh270 billion.
The amendment, which is a further change to the one brought by Nairobi Senator Sakaja, wants the counties to equally share Sh270 billion and the remaining Sh46.5 billion be subjected to the new formula developed by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA).
In his proposal, Sakaja wants the formula applied to allocations above Sh316.5 billion, which is the entire allocation to the 47 devolved units this financial year.
He had wanted counties to share the money the same way they shared it in the last financial year.
But 25 senators, mostly from the counties that have been labelled as losers in the formula developed by the Committee on Finance, voted in support of Linturi’s amendment, while 20 senators, mainly from the counties that were to set to gain significantly, voted to reject the amendment.
Political risk analyst and lawyer Martin Oloo contends that it is too early to suggest the parliamentary changes made by the President and ODM leader Raila Odinga had failed.
“These are early days. The President realised only the other day that his deputy had an upper hand with some key political players.
He embarked on a dismantling plan. It is too early to suggest the changes have failed. It is not true that the events in the Senate represent a failure on the part of the ‘Handshakers’ rather, it is their wake up call,” said Oloo.
Revenue formula
Asked whether he had failed in his first major assignment, Senator Poghisio said: “As we resume debate on the Third Basis formula for revenue allocation among county governments, I continue to urge that we proceed with patience, understanding and objectivity.
A speedy resolution on this matter will then pave way for consideration of the County Allocation of Revenue Bill.”
On his part, Senator Kang’ata dismissed assertions of failure, saying the vote was still in abeyance.
“Kenyans need to know that the vote on Tuesday was not substantive. The issue is still in abeyance.
The committee’s proposal has not been voted for. Hence, we still have a long way to go to finish this business. It is, therefore, premature to make such judgments,” he said.
The Murang’a Senator further argued that whatever happened in the Senate was not a failure since for the first time in many months, Jubilee senators voted as a block.
“My work is to deliver Jubilee Senators. For the first time all Jubilee senators including Tanga Tanga and Kieleweke voted as one bloc. Out of 22 senators that voted for this motion, 16 were Jubilee. I united the factions,” he added.
Governance specialist Javas Bigambo opines that the decision and execution of changes of House leadership purely for political muscle-flexing was undemocratic.
“The loss of the vote demonstrates the failure of the political leadership to create an equilibrium between executive authorisation and public interest as protected by county delegations in the Senate,” said Bigambo.
He added: “What is necessary now and from the lessons of the vote, is the need for enhancing lobbying and consensus building on wide issues of public interest within Parliament.”
Kitui Senator Enock Wambua contends that the world is witnessing a paradigm shift in leadership from the principle of command and control to persuasion and consensus.
“In this day and age, it is not feasible that you negotiate a way forward with partners on the basis of threats.
The leadership of the Senate squandered obvious opportunities to build consensus among colleagues for the good of all Kenyans. This is not to say that all is lost.
There is still room for closing of ranks and a deal that ensures that no county loses revenue,” said Wambua.
He argued that the Sakaja-Linturi amendment captured the thinking and imagination of a majority of senators and urged his colleagues to objectively review the proposed amendment and embrace it as the answer to the collective challenge facing the third basis for the sharing of revenue among counties.
University of Eldoret don Philip Chebunet said that Tuesday’s vote was is a lesson to those who claim party positions without proper consensus, adding that the Central region is looking at a post-Kenyatta presidency.
“The Mt Kenya region is looking at a post-Kenyatta era, so they want to get their share now.
They may be forcing counties to accept the Kang’ata and Finance committee way to use it as a bait to get support for BBI in the future. There is a need to re-look at the formula.
Landmass is constant but population growth and socio-economic dynamics are not,” said Chebunet.
The Senate will today continue with the debate on amendment brought by Nominated MP Petronila Were, in which she is seeking the approval of the House to have the second-generation formula retained to share out the Sh316.5 billion for the counties in this financial year and take a vote.
