Why Machakos requires a
leaner, effective government
By Martin Masai,
EDITOR/ PUBLISHER
At a time when the country is ravaged by demonstrations as Generation Zoomers demand more accountability and better governance from President William Ruto, it cannot be business as usual for Governor Wavinya Ndeti. In a government with 11 departments, the governor has appointed over 33 Chief Officers, with some departments having more that three Chief Officers- doing work that would have been done by a single officer.
The following is how the government is structured:
- Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperative Development,
- Lands, Physical Planning, Housing, Urban Development and Energy,
- Water, Irrigation, Environment, Sanitation & Climate Change,
- Finance, Economic Planning, Revenue Management and ICT,
- Devolution,
- Gender, Youth, Sports and Social Welfare,
- Health Services,
- Transport, Roads and Public Works,
- Trade, Industry, Tourism and Innovation,
- Education
- Office of the Governor
At inception, the Wavinya government had the following Departmnts- each with a Chief Officer.1. Machogu Ian Obare(ICT & Infrastructure), 2. Mutua Mercy Ndululu(County Administration and Decentralized Units),3. Mutunga Zipporah Kavata(Climate Change),4. Musyoki Winnie Ndunge(Small and Medium Enterprise Development)5. Muendo Vincent Musili(Agriculture and Food Security)6. Mulei Stephen Kyalo (Vocational Training)7. Simba Simon Mwako(Public Health)8. Ngumbau Mutiso Benedict(Sports), 10. Mutua Tobias Mutuku(Economic Planning),11. Muraguri Simon Kirima(Energy),12. Mike Jace(Revenue Management)13. Capt. Muiya Andrew Mwema(Environment) 14. Mutinda Charles Kyalo(Office of the Governor), 15. Kinyae Bruce Isika(Public Participation, Citizen Engagement and Customer Service), 16. Mutunga Anthony Mutuku(Cooperative Development),17. Kioko Bernice Mueni(Tourism & Culture),18. Kasivu Justus Musau(Transport and Roads) 19. Sheikh Ifrah Abdi( Digital Economy), 20. Mwanza Lawrence Maingi( Public Service and Performance Management), 21. Kala Mohammed Rashid(Health Facilities and Infrastructure Development), 22. Mulwa Albert Katumo(Livestock and Fisheries Development),23. Bernadette Kyany’a(Citizen Management and Customer Care) 24. Papaa Koin Lompo(Lands), 25. Maingi Maureen Mwende(ECDE) 26. CPA Guliye Abdullahi Yunis(Chief Officer - Water and Irrigation), 27. Col. (Rtd.) Gedion Mbithi Wathi(Inspectorate, Fire Fighting and Emergency Services) 28. Kituku Benson Metho(Public Works) 29. Kitheka Simeon Kioko(Trade and External Relations) 30. Miyienda Wycliffe MD(Medical Services),31. Adipo Collins Otieno(Urban Development and Housing), 32. Munyao Joseph Mutwiw’a(Industry and Innovation), 33. Kasanga Julius Muindi(Finance),34 Mule Daniel Lemba(Public Communication and e-Government)
Kiambu County Government for instance, Governor Kimani wa Matangi has appointed 9 ministers in his cabinet. To support them, the Kiambu governor split each department into two and recruited 20 Chief Officers. Nairobi County has 31 Chief Officers while Makueni has 16 COs , Kitui has 26 while Kisumu County has 12 while Mombasa County has 15.
So why 33 Chief Officers for Machakos? What is so special with Machakos?. While the law sets the number of Ministers- officially known as County Executive Committee Members(CECM), it is silent on the number of COs that the governor may appoint.
It is at this point that prudent decision making for the County Chief comes into play. The English dictionary explains prudent to mean practical, sensible, judicious, wise, careful, cautious or far sighted- in as far as decision making is concerned.
In a county that is water deficient, needy to alleviate poverty, maintain critical infrastructure such as roads, ECD classes, hospitals, dispensaries, a perennial food deficit, a teaming army of unemployed youth, what would the priorities be in the deployment of the meagre cash resource? Where is the sense or wisdom, if at all is there any measure of care, caution of far sightedness on the part of the governor in these appointments? Is there PRUDENT MANAGEMENT of public resources in the appointments of 33 COs?
Investigations by The Anchor show that Salaries Scales and Grades allowed by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission provide that each Chief Officer be paid Kes133,870, plus Kes 52,000 for House and Kes 20,000 for Commuter allowance.
It means that each of Ndeti's COs earns a gross salary of Kes 205,870. Machakos has a team of 33 of them. It means that the county forks out Kes 6,793,710 each month to pay them. and Kes 81,524,520 annually. In 5 years, the 33 officers will have consumed Kes 407,622,600 or close to Half a billion shillings.
In the Kiambu scenario- a county that generates more revenue than Machakos,20 Chief Officers cumulatively take home Kes 4,117,400 each month. The cited counties- Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu are better endowed than Machakos. Kitui and Makueni can therefore be said to have made a PRUDENT decision in the appointment of their Chief Officers.
Those who work in government know that salaries are a mere fraction of a civil servant's earning. They take home triple this amount in allowances such as Daily Subsistence Allowance and other attendant perks which can be accrued with every assignment, including other fake ones
So how much can the roughly half a billion shillings do for a county that is struggling to raise revenue to meet its development objectives?
The population of COs in the Government of Machakos County is just one example of the gravy train that Machakos County Government has become as the officials carry home the county's cash each day and month.
Sadly, the Chief Officers may not be the only cabal of men and women who earn in a wasteful spree in the county. There is another lot of Governor' Advisors and other well connected people, including family members who earn while at home! The Anchor with tackle this in coming days. Our enquiries indicate there are hundreds of other officials hired by Wavinya who earn salaries they ought not to earn- and they will do so until after she leaves office.
A quick comparison with the previous administration of Dr. Alfred Mutua shows his 10 ministers were supported by only 16 Chief Officers. In his second term, Mutua raised the number to 23. Observers still see a difference in terms of what Mutua delivered then and the drama of non delivery within the current administration.
Analysts see the variance as a statement of the objectives of the two administrations- one keen on using the limited results for maximum output and the other using the same resources to feed officials, rather than deploy the resources for the good of the people.
It is manifested by a good two years of making touches on Mutua's key projects including dams- including substituting Dr Mutua's pictures with those of Governor Wavinya in virtually all projects. The best example is the flooring of Boda Boda and bus stops that Dr Mutua built which has just been concluded- and not initiating a single major project since she was elected.
Efforts to obtain a comment from the governor were not successful. She neither responded to phone calls to her number nor responded to WhatsApp messages.
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