By Obegi Malack
@obegimalack
Kajiado County leaders have called on President Uhuru Kenyatta not to allow additional funds to the county governments due to embezzlement, the counties are pushing for increase of budget allocation.
Former Kajiado County Senator Peter Mositet said the money demanded by the governors will be misused, he said the governors must accept the amount they have been allocated. He urged the president to stand his ground in ensuring misuse of money is prevented.
Uhuru had said there are no funds to support the increment and governors should instead cut their salaries to cater for the same. “Let’s fight corruption so that the taxpayers’ money does not end up pockets of a few individuals. We are losing a lot of money to corruption yet it should be used to build roads and construct hospitals for Kenyans,” he had said.
Mositet had also ordered Directorate Criminal Investigation to investigate Kajiado County Governor Joseph ole Lenku who he accused of misusing public funds.
The politician and Kajiado Central MP Elijah Memusi said the county is losing a lot of money in corruption and spending a lot in projects that are not beneficial to residents.
“We saw him spend Sh 22 million on Friday , only for him to come to my constituency to make clarifications over the same. We know he spent Sh45 million on that day and this is the reason we are saying the DCI must come to the county immediately and start investigating Lenku,” claimed Memusi.
The governor led the county in Keekonyokie Ward in a scorecard showcasing the developments he had done in the last one year.
Lenku had defended himself saying he only spent sh 5 million and those saying he spent more than sh 20million are malicious and spreading propaganda, he said the opponents are playing politics with development and will not prevent him from offering services to electorates.
Council of governors chair Wycliffe Oparanya who was the chief guest during the scorecard event said the county under leadership of Lenku has done major projects and the county should be used for benchmarking by other counties.
The Kakamega governor said the county governments must be allocated more money. He noted operations in counties have been grounded because of the standoff between Senate and National Assembly.
In Kajiado County most workers are yet to be paid, some MCAs including speaker Johnson Osoi had boycotted the scorecard event.
The counties are demanding they be allocated Sh335 billion, recommended by the Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA). MPs gave them Sh316 billion this financial year, they filed a case in Supreme Court.
The Court gave the Senate and National Assembly more time to pursue mediation over the issue, The case will be mentioned on September 16, for the court to get update on the mediation process by the legislators.