Jubilee is committed to devolution, William Ruto assures

William Ruto PHOTO: COURTESY

By LUKE ANAMI and ERIC LUNGAI

The national government is not holding back funds meant for county governments, Deputy President William Ruto has said.

Asking critics of the Jubilee government to give the administration a chance to deliver services to Kenyans, the Deputy President said the government is committed to ensuring that devolution works.

“We as the Jubilee Government know the importance of development in the country and it is devolution that will help steer the country forward. We are asking the county governments to utilise the money that is lying idle in their bank accounts faster so that it can benefit our people,” Ruto said.

He was speaking at Vihiga High School in Vihiga County during the thanksgiving ceremony of Vihiga MP Yusuf Chanzu.

Ruto, who was responding to the Vihiga Deputy Governor Caleb Amaswache’s claims that the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) was to blame for the slow disbursement of county funds, said there was more than Sh35 billion meant for the counties.

“Perhaps your governor is analogue. There is more than Sh35 billion meant for devolution at the Central Bank and all that is required is for all of us to work together to access the money,” he said.

Amaswache blamed the lack of optic fibre in the county for the slow Internet connectivity, saying it had contributed to the poor performance of the system.

Government favours

“We at the counties are not accessing the system as fast as we should. We are sometimes forced to go to Kisumu in search of better Internet connectivity to access the system,” he said.

Earlier, Turkana Central MP Lotebe Lokara caused a stir when he called for both URP and UDF to unite for the 2022 elections. However, former Deputy President Musalia Mudavadi said the proposal was not workable.

“If I was a Mathematics teacher at this school, I would have told you your Mathematics is wrong,” Mudavadi answered amidst laughter from the crowd.

Mudavadi said all was not lost between his party and Jubilee, but urged the government to consider young leaders from the region for jobs saying it is not necessary that he be appointed.

Mudavadi asked area residents to stop crying foul over government appointments. “We don’t want to be like a vehicle stuck in the mud crying all the time for favours from those in government. We must move on,” he said.

The UDF leader said the national and county governments should stop fighting one another and instead seek ways of accelerating development in the country.

Common course

Calls for Luhya unity dominated speeches by speakers from Western Kenya, with most of them calling for the region to rally behind one leader who would help unite everyone.

Sabatia MP Alfred Agoi said the Western region should be considered for “something in the national government” even as the residents learn to unite for a common course in the next elections.

“Our voice should be one and we should be relevant in future elections if we unite as the Luhya community,” he said.

Ruto further said the Jubilee Government was committed to improving the fortunes of farmers, stating that 140 metric tonnes of fertilizer had arrived in the country. He said prices will be subsidised to enable farmers access it cheaply.

The Deputy President said the government had allocated enough money for the construction of the Kisumu-Kakamega highway to ease mobility. He said the contractor who was working on the Kakamega-Webuye highway had been stopped for doing a shoddy work.

“We no longer look at which regions voted for us in our development agenda. We will treat all regions equally as we embark on a journey that is meant to spur the country to greater economic growth of more than 10 per cent,” he said.

Vihiga Women’s Representative Dorcas Kedogo and her Trans Nzoia counterpart Janet Nangabo, Nominated Senator Beatrice Rachi, MPs Alfred Agoi (Sabatia), Charles Gimose (Hamisi), Wilbur Ottichilo (Emuhaya), Mohammed Mahmod (Mandera) and Paul Otuoma (Bumula) attended the ceremony.

Others included MPs Dan Wanyama (Webuye), Julius Bitok (Mosop), Mary Emase (Teso South), Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo), John Bunyasi (Nambale), Ayub Savula (Lugari), Ben Washiali (Mumias East), Lotebe Lokara (Turkana South), Speaker of Vihiga County Asembly Daniel Chitwa, among other leaders.