KAIKAI'S KICKER: Dear Machakos Speaker, welcome to Kenya!

On my kicker tonight, I seek your indulgence – allow me to share the platform with a very rare of a politician; a politician who bravely defied all odds to just state what is truly inside her heart – and damn the consequences.

Ann Kiusya, the speaker of the County Assembly of Machakos had the honor and privilege to speak at a presidential event last Sunday, and clearly, it was an opportunity she did not waste.

Despite murmurs of displeasure from a section of her audience, the Machakos Speaker listed salary increment as item number one in her list of grievances and bravely pressed on to the next item.

Number 1, salary increment. Number 2, plenary allowances. And damn the hecklers in the crowd – the speaker of Machakos was not done.

Number 4 mileage. Number 5 office imprest, number 6, something she called double taxation of Members of the County Assembly (MCAs). But now the crowd was getting angrier and louder and some intervention allowed the Speaker to complete her list of grievances.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I give it up to the Speaker of Machakos for being straight with the country, the President and even the people of the county of Machakos she serves. Out of the rough count of 7 or so grievances, all except one are about self. She did not even venture into the usual political niceties of doing things in the name of the people. She was upfront; our salaries, our sitting allowances, our mileage, pension…name it – well done Madam Speaker.

Just a small suggestion to the Speaker of Machakos; always take a moment to follow the news no matter the event you are attending the next day. Had you done that, you would have heard that the national government had not even paid salaries let alone increase any for some of its own workers. You would also have heard in the news that the national government has been unable to remit funds to the counties, including yours, for some months now.

Now I can only imagine what was going through President William Ruto’s mind as he listened to your list of grievances, and I can’t help thinking he switched on the automated answering machine and sent your speech straight to where it belongs; please leave your message after the tone!