Councillor accused of selling Sh100m land

A civic leader and junior officers at Bungoma Municipal Council allegedly colluded to sell land belonging to farmers in Bungoma town.

Fury greeted revelations that the piece of land on which Kitinda Milk Processing Co-operative Society stands has been sold off to a private developer.

The whistle-blower was an employee of the council, who after allegedly disagreeing with the rest on how the loot was to be shared out, decided to spill the beans.

The Government had allocated Sh100 million to revive the plant. Trade Minister Moses Wetangula had said the money was to be used to repair the rugged machines to enable full operations by October this year.

Investigation by The Standard established that two junior employees at the council connived with a rogue civic leader to sell off the land estimated at Sh100 million for only Sh3 million.

“We are following bits of information but I am appealing to those who may have more details of what actually transpired to come forward and share the same with us, of course with a strict promise of confidentiality,” assured Bungoma District Criminal Investigation Officer Zabed Maina.

He said the police were also following other leads at the council to ascertain how a computer containing vital information, chief among them the financial status of Kitinda Dairy Factory, was hacked.

The incident last week caused confusion at the civic authority forcing Finance Committee Chairman Joseph Maguda to read a hastily prepared budget that was later rejected by Mayor Patrick Sulechi for lacking substance.

“We are demanding speedy investigation into the incident because it is apparent some staff members are hell bent on covering up their past financial malpractices that have seen the council lose millions of shillings. This time round, we want the police to leave no stone unturned to ensure all the culprits are arrested and charged,” Sulechi told The Standard on the phone.

Kitinda Dairy Milk Factory that had employed about 650 people collapsed under a burden of debts in the 90s and efforts by farmers and local leaders to revive it had been unsuccessful.

Last year, Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced the Government was set to revive the plant to serve the more than 70,000 residents who engage in dairy farming.

Last month, Kanduyi MP Alfred Khang’ati said the Government was in the process of appointing a receiver manager before the end of the year.