Senators. Photo: The Star/the-star.co.ke
After the passing of the new constitution in 2010, the position of the Senate was created, it was also exalted as the Upper House.
The elite politicians who represented different constituencies run quickly to pick the new position in the senate in droves.However, four years later another mad rush is being witnessed, this time round the 'glorified' senate position is being abandoned for seats such as MCA, MP, and Governor.Many political pundits have hypothesised that the new development is due to the fact that a Senator has no control of resources, for instance, MCAs and Governors control county budget allocations and MPs have the privilege of the CDF fund while the senator's duty is just to oversight the billions.Data cannot lie, of the 67 senators which include both elected and nominated a whopping 34 of them have announced they will run for other political positions.Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula and his Nyamira counterpart Kennedy Mong'are have even bigger aspirations, they want to run for the presidency. Nominated senator Janet Ongera, Beatrice Elachi, Naisula Lesuuda, Daisy Kanaiza, Wilfred Machage, Joy Gwendo, Martha Wangari are all ditching the senate for a seat in the national assembly.Senators Boni Khwalwale, Hassan Omar, James Mungai, Dan Mwazo, Lenny Kivuti, Kiraitu Murungi, David Musila, Mike Mbuvi Sonko, Muriuki Karue, John Munyes, John Lonyangapuo, Stephen Sang, George Khaniri, Peter Anyang Nyong'o, James Orengo, Chris Obure, are also ditching the Upper House for the governor's seat.The MCA seat is also attracting attention from the big boys in Senate, Nominated Senator Hosea Ochwang'i and Godliver Omondi are settling for a seat at the county halls. Political analyst Dastan Omar said the change in political tactic is due to the desire by the lawmakers to control billions of shillings in the county coffers."Worldwide, the Senate is the Upper House and they didn't conceptualise they would not be allocated resources," he said."MCAs have a financial war chest, so do MPs and they can use that as a springboard for higher office. That is what informed the mad rush," he added.Is the mad rush a show of greed by the senators or a move to ensure proper utilisation of county funds? Have the last words.