The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) last week gave a nod to the Punguza Mizigo initiative bill, which seeks to among others, reduce the public wage bill by reducing the number of elected leaders.
The initiative sponsored by Thirdway Alliance party will now to proceed to County Assemblies for approval after successful collection of a million signatures to push for a law change. Party leader Ekuru Aukot’s endeavour is likely to drive the country to a plebiscite, the first on the 2010 Constitution should counties pass the bill.
Among far-reaching proposals in the bill are a single-term presidential tenure and the scaling down of the number MPs from 416 to 147.
The bill also proposes to have the ward as the basic unit of development, in effect, taking the place of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF). It is deemed, theoretically, that the move will have the overall effect of trickling down development to the people, which was the aim of devolution in the first place.
The proposed reduction of the number of lawmakers should resonate well with Kenyans as it will drastically reduce the wage bill, which is out of control. Indeed, it would allow for the increase of county allocation to the proposed 35 per cent of the national budget.
By the same token, the reduction of the layers of representation by eliminating the post of nominated MCAs, senators and Woman Representatives will save the country a lot. It is worth noting that the over-representation has not necessary resulted in quality legislation or any tangible benefit.
Apart from the elimination of duplication of roles, the move will focus attention on the quality of leadership, holding the political elite to account.
On the other hand, the move to give the bill the green light to seek counties’ approval will no doubt put a spanner in the works of the Building Bridges Initiative, which has been collecting and collating views from Kenyans on issues facing the country.
If the handshake team was aimed to buy time and perhaps do a more comprehensive job of collating views, the Punguza Mizigo bill has pulled the rag from under the feet of the BBI, which may have to rethink its strategy. Either way, there is no doubt there is need for law change to reduce over-representation and the resultant high wage bill.
The Aukot bill is a good starting point for Kenyans to bring overzealous leaders back to reality. - Editorial Team
