Prof Kivutha digs in for
duel with county Reps
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| Prof Kibwana as he took Oath of Office |
By Anchor Reporter
Makueni governor Kivutha Kibwana is resounding a warning to corrupt civil servants in Makueni County to pack and go.
He said that their days are numbered in the county as long as he is Governor. Kibwana said corruption has denied citizens the right to development and vowed to deal with culprits in government. He made the remarks as he send on leave five top officials of the county government after the alleged disappearance of over Sh300 million remitted to Makueni under the Local Authority Transfer Fund in January 2013.
The officials have quietly left office and sources allege that Gov. Kibwana , being a Law Professor and aware of the rules of natural justice send them away without giving them the slightest of a hearing to explain the state of affairs.
“I’m corruption free and government officers must tow the line for them to survive because I shall fight corruption like nobody’s business. Stealing from public coffers will not continue under my watch and I advice such workers to quit and look for jobs elsewhere if they feel the salary is not enough,” Kibwana said.
Kibwana said he will propose to MCAs to pass a law that demands for all civil servants to declare their wealth. “My first job is to push for a law that will demand for all civil servants to declare their wealth. This will enable my office review their lifestyle after every six months to establish whether they are thriving on public funds,” Kibwana said.
However given the frosty relationship between him and a section of the County Assembly, it will be difficult for him to push through any legislation in the assembly. Such a proposal may find resistance especially if some of the members of the assembly are beneficiaries of corruption as some pointers indicate.
He asked residents to support his war on the vice if the county is to achieve meaningful development. “I will rely a lot on village councils to achieve my development agenda. This is because they understand the core problems that afflict the locals and needed urgent attention,” Kibwana said.
Kivutha’s statement comes on the heels of the suspension of officials of the county government over the alleged disappearance of close to Sh 300m meant for projects under LATF. The funds were remitted from the central government in January to the County Account and have allegedly vanished.
Officials say the money was used to pay contractors and fund LATF projects identified in the last cycle of the defunct Makueni County Council. Sources say that an inspection on the ground did not have proof of use of the money. The fact is that the money, whether squandered or not, was used without the knowledge of the governor. It is alleged that about 15 County Assembly Representatives(CARs) who were councilors in the previous council pushed officials to release cash already committed under LATF projects, which may have been done but the cash was eventually diverted into personal use. Each of the former 37 wards of Makueni County Council had been allocated Sh 1.2m for projects
“ Since this money disappeared, some of the CARs involved have had a turnaround in their lifestyles, with some buying cars they could not manage to buy in the last 10 years some have been councilors. We are tracking these funds and soon we will draw a dotted line and link them to theft of public funds”, a source close to the investigations told The Anchor, adding that some of them had made massive investments within months of the formation of the county government.
The usually well informed source says it is the loss of the millions in the county that is fuelling the fight between the County Executive and the County Assembly and the war is likely to be long drawn, bitter and at times violent- which will seriously harm the performance of the governor in both the short and long term . It is a pointer that some of the county legislators have handled cash whose investigation they must block at all cost. Key casualties of the fights will no doubt be public officials who handled the transactions.
Among the issues the fights are pegged on is the alleged impropriety in the use of Sh 49,316,776 by the county executive.
CARs are also demanding the vacation of the Excecutive from the offices previously occupied by the Makueni County Council. Governor Kivutha now occupies the office previously occupied by the Clerk to County Council after he declined use of offices at the County Headquarters.
According to a document provided by the CARs, two curious entries of ‘extension of ensuit washroom’ and cost of office ext.ensuit washroom’ each valued at Sh. 1.919,858 on March 14, 2013 and March 22, 2013 stand out like a sore toe. The Sand Taskforce appointed by Gov. Kibwana was curiously allocated Sh. 970,000 in allowances on a date yet to arrive- July 20, 2013.
The document shows that the wage bill for the County Government as a whole is Sh 16,674,941 and that it spends heavily on advertisements to the Daily Nation and imprests to unspecified staff, including Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau who is alleged to have been advanced Sh 296,168 in Transport and fuel costs via Mr Francis Philip on May 8, 2013.
