The controversy surrounding construction of Huduma Centres has deepened after Kisumu County set aside Sh40 million for the project in the 2018-2019 budget.
This is the third time the project, whose implementation has stalled, is being allocated money.
The allocations have been raising questions because Huduma Centres are under the national government.
In the 2017-2018 budget, Sh97.5 million was set aside to construct and equip three Huduma Centres. Money had also been set aside for the centres the previous financial year.
The proposal was greeted with criticism from activists and residents who accused the county government of wasting public resources to duplicate national government projects.
Huduma Centres are part of the national government's Vision 2030 flagships projects.
In its 2015-2016 budget, the former regime allocated Sh50 million for construction of what it termed documentation centres in Nyando, Muhoroni, Kisumu East, Kisumu West and Nyakach sub-counties.
And when Governor Anyang’ Nyong'o took over, he continued with the same trend and now there are fears the project may not take off after rights activists threatened to move to court to stop implementation of the entire budget.
Allocations to the project have been inconsistent over the years with Nyongo’s regime reducing its kitty by about Sh20 million.
In the current plans, the county government plans to spend about Sh10 million on each Huduma Centre in Nyakach, Nyando and Muhoroni.
And yesterday, activist Audi Ogada said there was no need to construct the Huduma Centres since the county already has offices
"The plan is not well thought out. Why allocate money to projects which are never implemented? The budget was not taken through public participation for residents to give their views,” said the activist.
Officials defended the project, saying it will bring services closer to the people.
County Director of Communications Aloyce Ager said the centres would reduce the distance residents walk to get services.
