• 39 nominated legislators and chairpersons of House committees were to get new offices.
•53 out of 85 elected ward reps work from rented offices; 32 are without.
Image: MAUREEN KINYANJUI
City MCAs will continue operating from rented offices as plans to construct a Sh500 million block have been pushed to next year.
The county assembly dropped the plan because of unavailability of land.
Last Thursday, clerk Jacob Ngwele tabled the supplementary budget report for the 2018-19 financial year, which included the new changes.
The proposed administration block was to be constructed in the parking space between City Hall Way and Taifa Road.
It was meant to provide space for the 39 nominated legislators and chairpersons of various House committees.
Ngwele said the administration block was to be constructed in three years, with the first phase kicking off this financial year.
“As a result [unavailability of land], the project could not take place and had to be dropped. The assembly is now considering other feasible acquisition methods to address the programme objective,” Ngwele said.
To reduce the pressure for space from other county government employees as stated in the County’s Annual Development Plan, Sh400 million was to be spent to build the new offices for the MCAs.
A further Sh100 million was to be spent on equipping the offices with computers and furniture.
The ADP also highlights that 53 out of the 85 elected MCAs are operating from rented offices, while the remaining 32 are without and hence need quick attention to the situation.
Ngwele said the Sh500 million has already been diverted to other development expenditures such as the refurbishment of the official residence of county speaker.
Some funds were also footed in the ongoing County Assembly Forum summit for the participation of all legislators which is estimated to cost Sh16 million.
The clerk further said the assembly incurred operational costs which were unforeseen at the point of budget operation resulting in extra programmes for the assembly.
The purchase process of the speaker’s residence was an example and could not have proceeded during the financial year it was planned for (2017-18), due to procurement practices and regulations.
“The purchase process could not proceed and the financial year within which it was planned lapsed. There is need to restate the extra costs through budget reallocations. These cost adjustments will not call for extra resources but only budget line realignments within programmes,” Ngwele said.