Is the role of MPs to “bring” development or to mobilise resources for development? Do MPs and constituents in Kenya understand the MP’s role? This report on a study undertaken by Transparency International Kenya examines how MPs respond to demands for financial assistance at the constituency level. Such demands are particularly conducive to corruption. It concludes that there is an insatiable demand on the ground for assistance from MPs, but that there is also a palpable desire for change.
Patron-client relations linking constituency representatives with the centre of state power are important for electoral success in the long term. This requires a capacity to reward through both bringing State resources to the constituency to promote development, and the capacity to address individual needs and contribute to local projects. This study aimed to establish the amount of money MPs spend on constituency affairs; probe their perceptions of financial and political costs and benefits of such expenditure; determine the sources of funding used; and question the relationship between such demands and expenditure and the democratic transition in Kenya.
The study took two samples of MPs: A qualitative sample in which questionnaires were distributed to twenty MPs to elicit responses to particular questions about the sources, amounts and uses of such expenditure; and a quantitative sample in which seven MPs’ personal assistants kept weekly accounts of the MPs’ expenditure related to duties at constituency level. The MPs surveyed were mainly from the opposition, and mainly from rural areas.
- The qualitative sample found that most MPs thought that the electorate expect MPs to address personal problems financially, and that this affects MPs’ expenditure at the local level.
- The main sources of funds used to address these problems were personal salaries, personal and business savings and contributions from friends.
- Some MPs had negative views of such expenditure, feeling that constituents were thankless and that the government should have policies to reduce poverty. Others were more positive, whilst many admitted to spending in order to sustain their political career.
- Not all MPs saw the demand as likely to be perpetual, and several stressed the need for civic education for voters.
- In the quantitative sample, the highest expenditures were on personal assistance and transport. Expenditures far exceeded what the MPs’ salaries would have provided.
Kenyan MPs are subject to a number of competing pressures: Media and non-governmental organisation scrutiny; the opinions of party leaders, who are able to determine political survival through party nominations; and most of all, in the long term, the expectations and demands of their electorate.
- The most important foundation of the electorate’s acceptance of MPs is the perception that they use their wealth to solve individual problems and those of the community.
- A substantial increase in MPs’ remuneration was recommended in 2002, with part of the justification being the demand for handouts from the electorate. However, given the level of demand, it is unlikely such increases will be able to satisfy it.
- The desire for change in Kenya is strong, and initiatives to change certain aspects of Kenya’s political culture may emerge, so long as the leadership exists to take advantage of this opportunity. If not, the public will respond through the country’s democratic institutions.
