•He said the government had ignored their plight and that it was time to show they are not pushovers.
•Karanja added that the MCA would shoot down any budget proposal that sought to allocate funds to governors until their demands were met.
Image: FILE
There will be no plenary sittings in all the 47 county assemblies as MCAs make good their threat to shut down operations in the push for higher perks.
Already, Mombasa, Wajir, Mandera and Garissa ward representatives have closed their assemblies following the expiry of the 14-day ultimatum they issued for increased salaries and allowances.
Two weeks ago, about 2,200 MCAs from across the 47 counties converged in Nairobi for their inaugural congress where they passed 10 resolutions to be addressed failure to which they will boycott passing county budgets.
The resolutions included the establishment of the Ward Development Fund which is fully anchored in law at 40 per cent of the county development budget.
The MCAs also want a County Affirmative Action Fund established for nominated members and county assemblies granted financial autonomy to aid in the effectiveness of the execution of their mandate.
Ward representatives also resolved that their remuneration be reviewed upwards.
None of those grievances have been addressed.
On Sunday, Naivasha East MCA Stanley Karanja who is the secretary general of the Association of Members of County Assemblies said the 14-day notice in which they sought higher salaries, ward funds and security has elapsed.
He said the government had ignored their plight and that it was time to show they are not pushovers.
“The government is not taking our grievances seriously and we have resolved that all the 47 county assemblies shall adjourn indefinitely,” Karanja said.
The MCAs' plan to make sure that no budget estimates are debated is a move that could cripple county operations.
Karanja who spoke in Naivasha said the government is to blame for the current impasse.
He criticised the government for ignoring MCAs' request for a ward fund yet it ceded ground and agreed to the Senate oversight fund and increased CDF for MPs.
“The President, governors, senators, MPs and even Women Reps have a fund allocated to them but for some unknown reasons the MCAs have been forgotten,” he said.
The MCA said that they would continue to agitate for an increase of their salaries from the current Sh86,000 to the previous Sh165,000 which was slashed on recommendations from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
“We thought that our demands for wards fund would be among the discussions by the bipartisan committee from the government and the opposition but this has been ignored,” he said.
Karanja added that the MCA would shoot down any budget proposal that sought to allocate funds to governors until their demands were met.
The chairman of Naivasha East Bursary fund Phillip Waweru supported calls to the upward review of MCAs' salaries due to the many demands at grassroots levels.
“Whenever there is a problem, residents first reach out to MCAs who use most of their cash in supporting those in need and hence the calls to increase their salaries,” he said.
This was echoed by another leader Mucoga Ng’ang’a who wondered why the MCAs, unlike other leaders, had been neglected adding that they should also get ward funds like other leaders.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)