Scorecard FAQs

General Scorecard FAQs

1) What is the aim of the scorecards?

The aim of the MP scorecards is to give a simple, clear way for citizens to assess the performance of the MP

2) What measures have are used to create the scorecard?

At the moment the measures used are Contactability, Appearances in Hansard and CDF spending performance. More details on the individual measures can read in the detailed FAQs below

3) Will you be adding more measures to the scorecard?

Yes, as more data becomes available we will be adding more measures to the scorecard

4) How did you come to choose the measures selected for the scorecard?

Care has been taken to select measure where the source of the data is clear and unambiguous and can be applied across all MPs in a fair manner. Contactability is based upon the different contact and communication means we have on the site for MP = they can at any time provide us with more information to update our records and improve their rating. Hansard appearances are taken from the official Hansard record available on the Parliament website. CDF spending performance is based upon the social audit reports carried out by the National Taxpayers Association.

5) Why are the CDF scorecards not available for every MP?

The NTA has not carried out audits for every constituency yet. As more constituencies are completed new data will be added to the site

6) How is the overall scorecard rating calculated?

Overall score is averaged with every good smiley face contributing +1, every neutral face contributing zero and every bad frown face contribution -1. The resulting value mapped to good/neutral using:

  • average score >= 0.5 -> Good

  • -0.5 < average score < 0.5 -> Neutral

  • average score <= -0.5 -> Bad

7) I think that you have made a mistake on one of your measures, what should I do?

For Contactability and Hansard, the measures are automatically calculated using our data - see below for more information. If you have additional contact details you would like to supply, or a query on Hansard appearances, please contact us using the buttons on the appropriate pages. Likewise, if you believe that there is an error in the NTA data that has been used, please use the appropriate button on the page to draw it to our attention.

Contactability

1) What does Contactability mean as a measure? Why have you chosen it?

Contactability reflects the number of different ways a citizen can contact or hear from their MP. This includes postal address, email, phone, a website, Facebook and Twitter. We believe this is an important measure because as elected representatives MPs must make themselves available to the citizens who elected them.

2) How is Contactability calculated?

A score of one point for each one of these contact options for which we have information:

  • Contact Address
  • Contact Phone
  • Contact Email
  • Facebook Presence
  • Twitter Presence
  • Blog

The maximum score is therefore five. The scorecard measure is then calculated like this:

  • Score 4-6: Good
  • Score 3: Neutral
  • Score 1-2: Bad

3) If more information is provided, will the scorecard measure improve?

Yes. The scorecards are automatically recalculated every night. If an MP, member of their staff or indeed member of the public has contact information not currently included on Mzalendo, please submit it to us using the 'Correct This Information' button on the appropriate MP page and we will add it to the site.

4) I have tried using the phone number/email address listed on the site and it is not working - what should I do?

Please let us know using the 'Correct This Information' button on the appropriate MP page and we will check then delete the information from the site.

Hansard Appearances

1)What is Hansard, what are appearances, why are they important?

The official record of the Kenyan National Assembly is called the Hansard – it is named after the British publication of parliamentary proceedings. We have taken all of the Hansard records from 2006 onwards and put them onto Mzalendo in an easy to use, searchable form. From the Hansard records we track every time an MP speaks in Parliament - denoting each instance of them speaking as an 'appearance'. We believe that appearances are important for a number of reasons. Firstly they show that the MP was actually in Parliament that day. Ideally we would like to show the actual attendance of each MP every day, but that data has not been made available to us. Secondly, the role of an MP is to represent the interests and concerns of the citizens who elected them. One of the means of achieving this is through speaking in Parliament on their behalf.

2) How is the Appearance Scorecard Measure Calculated?

The number of appearances for each MP is was counted for the last six months of 2011. Ratings were then applied as follows:

  • 60+ appearances - Good
  • 6 - 59 appearances - Neutral
  • <6 appearances - Bad

3) Will you update the scores when parliament returns to session?

Yes, we will update the scores once parliament returns, maintaining a rolling 6-month basis for calculating the scores.

4) Will you take into account the fact that an MP might only have recently been elected in a by-election and have not had the opportunity to speak in all of the last six months?

Yes, we believe that we have accounted for all of these instances, but if you come across an instance where you think we might have made an error, please let us know using the 'Correct This Information' button on the appropriate page.

5) When I look at the Hansard records on the site I notice that in a few cases the name of the speak is not a link. What has happened there and will if effect the score of an MP?

In determining who has spoken in parliament we have to rely upon the accuracy of the official record itself. There are some instances where insufficient information has been entered into Hansard to identify a specific speaker - for instance 'omondi' as the only record of a speaker could apply to one of three different people. These instances are however few and far between, and we do not believe that they have made a difference to the overall scorecard ratings.

6) If someone speaks three times in the same debate, does that count as three appearances, or one?

It counts as three appearances.

CDF Performance

1) What is CDF? Why is it important?

CDF stands for Constituency Development Fund. It was established through the CDF Act, 2003 as a public funded kitty that targets development projects at the grassroots level.

It is one of the several devolved funds set up by the Government to mitigate poverty and to harmonize the spread of development throughout the country. It aims at ensuring a portion of the Government Annual Revenue is earmarked for constituencies to finance development projects qualified on a priority basis arrived at by members of a constituency. It aims at ensuring a portion of the Government Annual Revenue is earmarked for constituencies to finance development projects qualified on a priority basis arrived at by members of a constituency.

It aims at ensuring a portion of the Government Annual Revenue is earmarked for constituencies to finance development projects qualified on a priority basis arrived at by members of a constituency.

An MP has plays a significant role to play in ensuring that CDF funds are used effectively to ensure that poverty is reduced in their constituency.

2) Where does the information you have used about CDF performance come from?

The information we have used about CDF performance has been taken from social audits undertaken by the National Taxpayers Association. There is a link to specific constituency report used on the scorecard tab. The NTA carry out detailed inspections and assessments of all of the funded CDF projects in the constituency to understand how effectively the money is being used.

3) What do the terms 'badly used'; 'missing' and 'unaccounted for' on the scorecard practically mean?

The NTA assesses the deliver of CDF projects into the follow categories:

  • Category A Projects – Well implemented, completed projects.
    This category was for CDF projects which had scored above 50% on the Project Technical Assessment Form, and were found to be well built, with good value for money (i.e. the budget was the right amount for the infrastructure delivered).
  • Category B Projects – Badly implemented, complete and incomplete projects.
    This category was for CDF projects which had scored less than 50% on the Project Technical AssessmentForm, and were found to be poorly constructed with poor value for money, and/or with budgets much larger than what was actually delivered.
  • Category C Projects – Well implemented, ongoing projects.
    This category was for CDF projects which had scored above 50% on the Project Technical Assessment Form, and were projects well implemented but incomplete, i.e. money had been used to build a structure of good quality, but the construction is ongoing.
  • Category D Projects - Abandoned Projects. This category of projects are incomplete and did not receive financial allocation in the subsequent Financial Year. It should be noted that the CDF Act provides for continuous allocation to projects until completion.
  • Category E Projects – Ghost projects. This category was for CDF projects officially allocated funds which had been spent, but the project did not physically exist at the time of study i.e. it was a ghost project.

In terms of how these categories relate to the overall totals, it is as follows:

  • Category B Projects = Money Badly Used
  • Category D Projects - Money Wasted
  • Category E Projects + unaccounted for money from the other categories = Money Unaccounted for

4) Have have you calculated the scorecard measure based upon the audit results?

The scorecard measure has been calculated in the following way:

  • Less than 5% of total funds badly used, wasted or unaccounted for: Good
  • Between than 5% & 15% of total funds badly used, wasted or unaccounted for: Neutral
  • Greater than 15% of total funds badly used, wasted or unaccounted for: Bad

5) Why are do not all MPs have a CDF scorecard result?

The NTA has not completed audits for every constituency - as new data becomes available we will add it to the site.

6) What if an MP was elected after the period that the NTA audit refers to - surely that is unfair?

It is unfair - we believe that we have taken into account the instances of MPs who were not elected in time to have responsibility for the CDF funds in the period being audited. If however you think you have found an error, please let us know using the 'Correct This Information' button on the appropriate page.

7) Why do you measure an MP who was elected in 2007 to start serving in 2008 against projects that started in the financial year 2007/08?

In this we have been guided by the NTA, who discovered in their research however, that most of the projects were funded in phases and would receive additional funding in the subsequent financial year (08/09) if the MP is reasonable after coming to office or those kinds of projects would be abandoned all together. After the elections the MPs are expected to right the wrongs of the previous regime and in most cases this is their campaign promise. That is why we don’t let them off the hook when they do not take corrective measures/legal action on previous corruption/complete stalled projects within the constituency.

8) I think you have made a mistake with your numbers - what should I do?

If you think you have found an error, please let us know using the 'Correct This Information' button on the appropriate page.

9) What is the 'would have paid for x number of teachers' measure for? How is it calculated?

The sums involved in CDF funds are so large we wanted to find a way of make the amounts abused and wasted seem relevant to citizens. The cost of teachers seemed like a good way of doing this. and we used an entry level salary of KSH165,000 pa as the basis of the calculation.

10)Where did you get the detailed breakdown of CDF projects by constituency that you also include on the site?

We got this data from the Open Data Kenya site