Kisii leaders clash over Sh100m for roads

By JAMES MBAKA and KENAN MIRUKA

KENYA: Kisii County leaders have clashed over accountability for Sh100 million meant for road projects in a constituency.

South Mugirango MP Manson Nyamweya and Tabaka Ward Representative Daniel Apepo traded accusations at a funeral of opaque utilisation of public funds. The altercation followed a recent scathing attack on Nyamweya by a section of members of the County Assembly (MCA) from his constituency who accused him of misuse some Sh50 million from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

But the MP has shot back a salvo at the MCAs accusing them of suffering from ‘political puberty’ and misuse by his political critics in the county leadership to undermine him.

Apepo who was among the five MCAs who condemned the MP in a vainly scathed attack at a funeral at Nyabigege asked the national government to account for projects and to be transparent in the allocation of resources.

“We want all to be accountable. The national government should tell us how it is utilising its funds because our roads are being poorly done when there are enough funds released,” he said.

Apepo said MPs handle CDF, which is a devolved funding of constituency projects from the national government.

The MP had to line up his CDF committee and table the balance sheet of the state of the kitty in juxtaposition to the list of the project funded so far. The lawmaker accused the county government of playing cards under the table.

He particularly asked Kisii Governor James Ongwae to come clean on how his government intended to utilise the Sh100 million roads funds allocated to the constituency in the current financial year.

“The MCA’s have said they were allocated Sh42 million for development of roads in this constituency but that conflicts the Sh100million the governor said he had allocated this constituency,” Nyamweya said.