NAIROBI, Kenya, May 3 - Devolution Principal Secretary Teresia Mbaika was on Wednesday forced to abandon a function by Members of County Assembly (MCAs) at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) demanded to be addressed by President William Ruto or his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.

According to the MCAs, the two leaders understand their problems better since they were also elected to office.

The county assembly leaders wanted their basic salary to be 49 percent of that of governors to enable them to undertake their duties.

"We want our basic salary as MCAs increased from the current amount of Sh86,000 to 49 percent of the Governors' basic salary of Sh924,000 with immediate effect," Naivasha East MCA Stanley Karanja stated.

Karanja expressed confidence that the President and his deputy are the ones who can address their issues effectively as they are also politicians.

"We are politicians, and we want to be heard by one of our own, politicians to politicians, we do not want an intermediary at this point," he said.

The MCAs were discussing effective county governance and how it can be improved.

Machakos MCA Francis Wambua indicated that they lacked the necessary resources to undertake their duties.