Poor turnout, delays as Kisumu hosts county legislative forum

The Fourth Annual Legislative Summit for county assemblies got off to a slow start on Saturday, with poor attendance and delayed programmes at pre-summit forums for youths and legislators with disabilities.

The youth leadership convention and the legislators living with disability conference were scheduled to start at 9am, but it wasn’t until 11am that the events kicked off, with just a handful of delegates in attendance.

The events were meant to set the stage for the main summit meeting of county assemblies at the The Grand Royal Swiss Hotel in Kisumu this week.

The pre-summit meeting for women legislators is scheduled to take place on Sunday at the same venue.

EMPTY SEATS

Organisers had confirmed that more than 3,500 delegates from county assemblies had registered for the event.

By Friday, the Nation had established that most top hotels in Kisumu county were fully booked until Thursday, as delegates started streaming into the lakeside city, ostensibly to attend the annual conference.

“We have been doing well since the start of the week,” a guest relations officer at one of the hotels said.

But at the Youth Leadership Convention main hall, just about a quarter of the seats were occupied.

Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, who was scheduled to officially open the meeting, did not turn up.

Session moderator Mr Christopher Mark termed the poor turnout unfortunate for an initiative meant to empower youths from the 47 counties.

"We are hoping the chair of the County Assemblies Forum (CAF), Johnson Osoi, will explain to us what happened since we invited all the county assemblies on time," he said.

COLD RELATIONSHIP

Mr Osoi blamed a cold working relationship between county executives and assemblies.

He said it was unfortunate that some county assemblies still relied on the executive for the disbursement of funds, adding this was "dangerous to the discharge of duties".

“The current scenario is best explained by the adage ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’,” he said on the sidelines of the pre-summit events.

SUBSCRIPTION FEES

It emerged that the Kisumu assembly may be locked out of the summit for failing to pay the required Sh5 million annual subscription fee in full. It paid Sh1.5 million.

Ironically, the city's members of county assembly failed to show up for important meetings, despite being the hosts.

Senator Fred Outa said it was a shame that the assembly was not represented at the pre-summit conferences. Welcoming the guests, Mr Outa blamed the executive for failing to remit the outstanding amounts.

Other counties which have not paid for the yearly summit include Mombasa, Kisii, Migori, Taita Taveta, Nyamira and Murang’a. Nairobi cleared its arrears on Saturday.

Mr Osoi, who is Kajiado Speaker, said, “I am informed that some counties are in the process of clearing their debts, but it is worrying that some have taken long while others might lose the opportunity to participate in the summit."

As a solution, Mr Osoi underlined the need for county assemblies to be given financial autonomy.

SPEAKERS

During their sessions, Government spokesman Eric Kiraithe urged the youth to have a vision for the country and think beyond themselves.

“While the youth have a right to demand what rightfully belongs to them, they owe the country a debt of abiding by the law,” he said.

At the disability forum, chairperson, County Assemblies Disabilities Caucus Esther Onana said more effort should go into addressing disability issues, building on gains made for persons living with disabilities.

The summit, which seeks to build on the gains of the first three and examine the role of counties in devolved governance, will be opened by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday and will be held for the next three days.

The President will share the podium with ODM leader Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto, who will address the meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.