Kenyans to pay Ksh.2.7B annually for village elders' salaries, says PS Omollo

Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo stated that Kenyans would have to pay Sh. 2.7 billion a year to support the village chiefs.

During a presentation to the National Assembly committee on national security and administrations, Omollo announced that each village elder would receive Ksh. 5000 per month.

“Using a rough estimate of 5 village elders in a sublocation which will be paid Sh 5000 monthly, it will translate to Sh 226,675,000. We are looking at an outlook which give or take will be Ksh 200M,”said Amollo.

Omollo defended the idea of paying village elders, saying that given the work they do for the community, Kenyans should not find it too expensive.

 “When we look into resources required to coordinate all this, we shouldn’t have a big problem convincing the National Treasury to give us the resources,” PS Amollo remarked.

The committee, chaired by Gabriel Tongoyo, also stressed the need to swiftly consider and approve the legislation because village elders are significant members of the community.

“This is doable considering the much help that these village elders give to this country. Its a figure we should be comfortable with,” Tongoyo said. 

According to Homabay Town MP Peter Kaluma, the biggest challenge in formalizing village elders has been the issue of finances. 

“The biggest hindrance to the formalization of village elders has been finances. Its something that we have failed severally to unlock. Now that it’s coming from the relevant department, a burden has been taken from us.’’ He said.

But because the law might disenfranchise some areas, committee members insisted that sublocations be logically and operationally streamlined before it takes effect.

 “They are units that are pending operationalization due to lack of resources. How do we say this is doable when we have location and sublocation which up to date have not been operationalized due to lack of resources,” Laikipia West MP Sarah Korere said.

“The biggest thing we must do to avoid conflict on the ground is to deal with village as is using the county setup..a village is a village whether its known by the county or the  national government.It should be the same unit,” Added Kisumu West MP Rosa Buyu.

The national government has a sufficient reporting structure in place, according to Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi, who held the opposite opinion.

“In spite of the fact that it’s popular in the public eye but in terms of implementation it will open a serious pandora box.For me leaving it as it is in the informal level makes a lot of sense since we have reporting mechanism,” Kapondi stated.

A village council made up of elders and led by a village administrator was to be a part of the national government service delivery unit, according to the National Government Coordination Amendment Bill 2023.