Uncertainty looms as details emerge on how Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana is secretly pushing Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee to postpone a visit meant to scrutinize Makueni books of account since devolution kicked off.
According to Kibwana’s letter to Senate dated 11/09/2019 and stamped as received by the Parliamentary clerk, it is now clear that the controversial county chief won’t be available for grilling by the sessesion committee due to visit Makueni on Thursday 19th September 2019.
This was in reference to a notification letter by Senate Public Accounts and Investment Commitee Ref: SEN/DCS/CPAIC/2019/250 dated 10/09/2019 and addressed to the office of Governor seeking to examine the queries raised in previous Auditor General reports on Makueni County Executive for the years 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18. “This is to inform you that I will travel out of the County as from 19th to 27th September on official engagements and hence request that this meeting is rescheduled to a later date convinient to Senate” reads part of the leaked letter.
It doesn’t state the nature of the governor’s engagements which would warrant Senate to adjourn such an important programme. The Senate is unlike before accompanied by EACC, ODPP, CBK and DCI officers who previously did their investigations separately. This is after a multi agency taskforce was tailored to combat runaway corruption.
The three consecutive reports featured great anormalities ranging from reallocation, misappropriation and misuse of public resources. A prior internal social report dumped ” Special Cabinet Investigation Report” popular known as SCIR 2014 signed by ECMs Dr. Mutava Mulwa (secretary general) and Rosemary Maundu (chairperson) matches the findings of the auditor general whose term expired last month.
The internal report exposes how Makueni junior staff were coerced to sign documents on behalf of their boss to facilitate massive misappropriation through faulty procurement and skewed tendering models ranging from nepotism, sexism to tendering self. The cartels allegedly involve massive hiring of political allies, close relatives and fiancees of county senior staff.
This comes shortly after a section of the pioneer Assembly leadership who are in nolonger in power read a mischief in the procedure followed by Senate Mashinani team led by Homabay Senator Kajwang Jnr. Kibwana’s administration has been massively accused of pulling PR stunts to conceal a perceived looting of revenue allocation through a systematic poking of legal loopholes on County legislation. “More than often governors overstep their mandate and that brews institutinal conflict as witnessed in our county before.
It’s unfortunate that our hands were tied after a court order burred an impeachment that would have seen Governor Kibwana grilled by Senate over the same issues they are purporting to address now” lamented Stephen Ng’elu. The former Makueni Assembly Speaker is in talks with Parliament Clerks to have the former house leadership given chance to face the PAIC team as he led the assembly which presided over the financial years in question. “We are the people who were charged with oversight in the first five years of duration in question and we are better placed to address issues facing devolution than our successors. We learned alot when Makueni was facing governance crisis” be he cautioned.
On his part the former Makueni Majority Leader Francis Mutuku alias Musso faulted state agencies charged with war on graft and asset recovery for going slumbering in job while there is incriminating evidence on corrupt county officials. He challenged them to begin with the recovery of some low lying fruits that are visible. “The day l will see Adelina Ndeto Mwau DG Makueni account for Sh.8 million withdrawn on 23/12/2014 and put at the boot of her car to an unknown destination is the day l will start appreciating the work of EACC,DCI and other bodies vested with the task of arresting and prosecuting suspected thieves.It’s unfortunate after availing all the documents to the above bodies she has never been questioned ,this is public money” Musso wondered noting that he personally gave Nyaoga Commission on Makueni Dissolution all the details about the alleged theft among many others. “somebody should help me understand why no action was taken, sh.8 million is not pocket change ,those are four boreholes” he added noting that the Deputy Governor admitted to the commission that she withdrew the said amount meant for a tree planting exercise at Kcb bank Wote branch on 23/12/2014. According to him the money factored for tree planting in that year’s budget was Sh.15 Million but the dubious withdrawals hit Sh.47 Million leading to a deliberate loss of sh.32 Million. “l testified during nyaoga commission about the theft ,l am ready to testify before any court that Adelina dissapeared with the amount in the boot of a car” he regretted noting that a subsquent report by the auditor general recommended that the money should be returned but that has been long over due.
Members of National Assembly recently quoted corruption and unaccountability as the main reasons why they are relactant in allocating more revenue to counties leading to battle with their Senate counterparts over division of revenue bill that has threated a government shutdown. “Any corrupt county officials should relinguish their positions and go home before I take over office as Governor in 2022. I will fire and jail some of you” said the Senator who disputes the narrative that Makueni is a corruption free zone.
Thank you
Musoma JM.
(The Man Of Chronicles)
© TheWayToGo
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