The tyranny of Kenya's MCAs

This research paper examines the abuse of power by Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) in Kenya following the 2013 general elections. It argues that MCAs have transitioned from agents of governance to tools of political extortion, leveraging ambiguous impeachment laws and their strategic grassroots position to blackmail county officials and misuse public funds.

• Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) have leveraged their strategic grassroots positioning to engage in political extortion and blackmail. This influence is driven by their role in political mobilisation for referendum initiatives, such as the governors' 'Pesa Mashinani' and the opposition's 'Okoa Kenya', leading MCAs to make demands in exchange for their support.
• Ambiguities in the 2010 Constitution and the County Government Act (CGA) regarding the impeachment of county officials have allowed MCAs to act as accusers, prosecutors, and jurors. This lack of checks and balances has led to impeachment proceedings against seven of the 47 county governors, approximately 10 county assembly speakers, and various county executives.
• There is widespread misuse of public funds by MCAs, including KES 2.4 billion in sitting allowances and KES 7.75 billion on domestic and foreign travel between 2013 and 2014. Additionally, KES 63 billion was spent on purchasing cars. Many MCAs used 'development benchmarking missions' to travel to countries including Rwanda, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, and Malaysia.
• The financial priorities of county governments in the 2013 fiscal year showed a disparity between personnel costs and development, with KES 77.4 billion spent on personnel emoluments compared to KES 36.3 billion allocated to development.
• MCAs have demonstrated a disregard for the rule of law, exemplified by Makueni County where MCAs unilaterally passed the 2014/2015 budget without consulting the county executive committee member for finance, violating the Public Finance Management Act, 2012.

APA

Aling'o, P., & Wagacha, D. W. (n.d.). The tyranny of Kenya's MCAs. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-tyranny-of-kenyas-mcas

Chicago

Aling'o, Peter, and David W Wagacha. The tyranny of Kenya's MCAs. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-tyranny-of-kenyas-mcas.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Aling'o |first1=Peter |last2=Wagacha |first2=David W |title=The tyranny of Kenya's MCAs |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-tyranny-of-kenyas-mcas |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{alingondtyranny, author = {Aling'o, Peter and Wagacha, David W}, title = {{The tyranny of Kenya's MCAs}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/the-tyranny-of-kenyas-mcas}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }