Oparanya: We don’t have money for MCAs car loans, mortgages

Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya address media in Butere. [File, Standard]

The Kakamega county assembly will not get additional funds for car loans and mortgages, Governor Wycliffe Oparanya has said.

Mr Oparanya said the money the ward representatives were asking for was not factored in the 2018/19 budget.

He said he had nowhere to get cash to finance the MCAs' car loans and mortgages.

“I gave the previous assembly Sh444 million for car loans and mortgages, but it was poorly managed. The money was not a grant but a revolving refund. Members who didn’t make it back to the assembly defaulted in paying back the money,” said Oparanya.

The governor said the management of the assembly should look for ways of recovering the money from MCAs who lost in the last elections so they could get enough money to service car loans and mortgages for the current assembly.

According to Oparanya, the MCAs ousted Speaker Morris Buluma and the clerk Patrick Kamwesar over claims the two had refused to give them money for car loans and mortgages.

Ill advised

“The purported impeachment of the top leaders of the house by MCAs was ill advised. The speaker has not declined to give them the money they are demanding, it’s not there. Furthermore, the process used to impeach the speaker was illegal,” said Oparanya, adding: “I had a meeting with the agitated MCAs during the Trade and Investment Conference in Bomet for the Lake Region Economic Bloc, and agreed to bury the hatchet... for the good of the electorate.”

Mr Buluma defended his position, saying the MCAs had not received the loans since the previous members had not fully repaid theirs, making it difficult to service the same for the current members.

"We gave the money we had collected to a few members on first come first serve basis. We don’t have the money but when it will be recovered, we will continue servicing their car loans and mortgages,” said Buluma.

The MCAs replaced Buluma with Sango MCA Kennedy Kiliwake in acting capacity.