GOVERNORS,MCAS PROHIBITED GROM PERSONAL BRANDING OF PUBLIC PROJECTS

The Senate has banned Governors and Members of County Assembly from branding government vehicles and public projects with their names, portraits, or personal symbols. In a report by the Senate Devolution and Intergovernmental Committee, senators emphasized that personal branding of public funded initiatives amounts to the inappropriate personalization of public resources, giving the false impression of private ownership. The Committee Chaired by Wajir Senator Sheikh Abbas says that such practices by Governors, MCAs and any other public figures are unethical and in contravention of the Constitution, the Public Service Act, the Public Officers Ethics Act and the Leadership and Integrity Act.

 The report underlines that using public funds to brand government projects or vehicles with the identities of public officers in a misuse of resources and contravenes legal principles of transparency and prudent financial management under public finance laws. To curb this practice, the committee proposed that all infrastructure be named and addressed appropriately, avoiding association with individual public figures. The committee also urged oversight bodies, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Office of the Auditor General, and the Controller of Budget to enforce compliance with integrity and accountability standards in public services.

 They called on these institutions to monitor misuse, issue guidelines, audit public expenditure, and take disciplinary action where necessary. The EACC has also been directed to submit a progress report to the Senate within 30 days on measures taken to deter public officers from personalizing public assets. This directive follows a petition by Laban Omusundi, an activist based at the Senate who decried the widespread practices across all 47 counties of labeling projects with images and names of Governors and MCAs. He argued that this falsely suggests that such initiatives are personally financed rather than funded by taxpayers.