A doctor has accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of using public funds as inducement for passage of the Building Bridges Initiative and asked a court to stop issuance of car grants to MCAs.
“It is not wrong for anybody, including the president, to campaign for a particular cause; the problem is the president is using public funds as an inducement,” Magare Gikenyi said.
“The failure by the 1st respondent (Salaries and Remuneration Commission) to perform its function hence throwing away her independence is achieving objectives of the Executive in the process of appeasing the 3rd to 49th respondents (county assemblies),” he added.
The action of the state is not in public interest and it is not prudent use of scarce public resources to ensure sustainability and intra and inter-generational equity.
“The actions of the 1st respondent are illegal, irregular and irrational to say the least and are discriminatory and smirk of the use of public office for personal gain as opposed to service to the people,” Gikenyi said.
He noted that independence is not an open cheque, carte blanche, where the 1st respondent can decide to do whatever pleases them to their ‘perceived friends’ or being politically correct in the name of independence.
“Independence comes with obligations, accountability, openness, rule of law and constitutionality,” he said.
The doctor said many public officers serving Kenyans have car loans which have not been converted into grant and there is nothing special with MCAs for them to have grants.
“For once, let’s just sit back and ask ourselves, why are we talking of cars/vehicles when there are more pressing issues in our society? Our society has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our people have lost jobs, many bread winners are struggling to eke a living. Our external debt has hit Sh8.4 trillion; our economy has shrunk to between 1-1.5 per cent,” he said.
Although the conversion of loan to grant is not a county legislation, Gikenyi said, the aim of the law was to prevent legislating self-serving interests of the MCAs.
-Edited by Sarah Kanyara
