Poor planning, laxity, and Nairobi MCAs' ignorance made them skip the ongoing fourth devolution conference in Naivasha.
The ward representatives did not pass the county assembly calendar in time to enable them to adjourn the House for the meeting.
Standing Orders requires the MCAs to pass a calendar in the first week of every session to guide its operations.
They resumed the session on February 14 from a long recess.
"They had not adopted the calendar to enable them to adjourn the House for a week to attend the conference," Deputy speaker Ken Ngondi said.
The County Assembly clerk Jacob Ngwele said all the businesses of the house, including adjournments, must be based on the calendar.
"They (MCAs) were supposed to pass the calendar and the adjournment motion last week on Thursday to enable them to attend the conference, but there was no quorum," Ngwele said.
Ngwele said the county treasury had already released Sh10 million for the MCAs' facilitation last Thursday.
"We now decided to use the money to pay salaries because we had not received money for the same," he said.
Ngwele said the calendar is an important tool for the operations of the August House.
"Maybe these members are not aware, they cannot even participate in the nominations if the calendar is not passed and adjournment motion approved," he said.
But speaking in the chamber on Tuesday, Sarangombe MCA Pius K'Otieno said that the leadership had last week met in Naivasha and agreed that MCAs would not be facilitated to attend the conference but rather use the funds to pay the ward reps’ salaries.
The MCAs had declined to pass the calendar which included dissolution of the House three months to the August 8 poll, to give them time to campaign.
They did not want the House dissolved until elections are held.
The calendar was however passed on Tuesday after the House Business Committee amended it.
The speaker can call for a special sitting during the last three months to the poll, in the amended calendar.
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