Counties second in command have come out to cry about earning hefty salaries for doing “absolutely nothing”.
The deputy governors want the state of the affair to stop and want to be given portfolios.
“We go to our offices for the roll call, eat mandazis, and swing in the chairs the whole day,” Forum chair Caroline Karugu, Nyeri deputy governor, said.
Deputy governors are pushing for clear and structured duties of their office as most of them “are well educated”.
“We are extremely knowledgeable but our skills are not utilized. Most Kenyans don’t even know their deputy governors because they have never seen us do anything,” Caroline said.
She stated that the proposal by the Building Bridges Initiative that will compel those vying for governors to pick deputies of the opposite sex my not work if proper structures are not put in place.
“It will be a disaster because the deputy will just be idle all the time. We might end up [being] breeding couples,” she said.
Caroline said they are paid Sh740,000 per month, which amounts to 400 million per year and around Sh2 billion for five years.
“Sh2 billion is paid to people who do nothing for five years. Deputy governors are now doing charitable activities so that they have functions to do.”
According to her, a deputy president should also be a minister or Cabinet secretary for something.
She proposes that the deputy governors should be in charge of a certain docket and do not get additional pay.
“We want a deputy governor to be in charge of a docket and money paid to one County Executive Committee member could be saved and this will go a long way in reducing the wage bill,” she said.
According to Article 179 (5) of the Constitution when the governor is absent, his/her deputy should step in and act as the governor but cannot nominate, appoint, or dismiss anyone.
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Karunzu told a local broadcast station that they (deputy governors) have submitted their proposals to the BBI team.
“We sat down with devolution experts to come up with structured work to do. We tabled this to the BBI,” she said.
She added that if their aspirations are not met through the BBI, they will petition Parliament to amend Section 32 of the County Government Act which states that the deputy governor should deputize the governor in executing the governor’s functions.
The governor may assign the deputy governor any other responsibility or portfolio as a county executive.
