Nyagarama refuses to release report on county funds use

The row between Nyamira Governor John Nyagarama and County Assembly members has taken a different twist following the governor’s reluctance to release a report on his administration.

The governor, who says the report in question is his ‘working tool’, insisted he has not received any official communication from the County Assembly requesting him to make public the report prepared by a special taskforce he instituted.

This comes after a failed attempt by the County Assembly’s Implementation Committee chair James Maroro, to have the report made public.

Mr Maroro said he had last week been asked by the County Secretary Eric Aori to request the governor to have the report made public.

SUSPENDED FOUR OFFICERS

The MCA’s want the report made public to enable them revive their quest to have six senior county government officials accused of alleged graft removed from office.

Mr Nyagarama had earlier in the year suspended four of his Executive Committee members and two chief officers after being accused of financial impropriety by the Assembly.

The governor, however, reinstated the officials after MCA’s rejected a report by their House Select Committee that exonerated four of the accused officers.

INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS

Mr Nyagarama Monday said the Assembly was free to carry out its oversight roles by carrying out independent investigations over the matter without necessarily relying on the report.

“The taskforce report was not for public consumption. The taskforce report is my operational document that will enable me to known how to manage my government affairs that includes reshuffles of my senior government officers,” he said Monday.

“I have already subjected the task report to the Public Oversight Authority which has also submitted its recommendations which I am currently implementing,” he said.

PRIVATE WORKING TOOL

He added: “The County Assembly members will be unfair to me if they are demanding for the report since the document prepared by a taskforce I instituted is my private working tool I am using in running my county government.”

However, Mr Nyagarama said the Ward Reps were free to receive any report they wanted on monies spent by members of his administration to enable them carry out their oversight roles effectively.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Explaining his reluctance to make the report public, Mr Nyagarama said: “Once this report goes to the Assembly, it will be in the public domain and in the process my aim and style of implementing the recommendations in it will be sabotaged.”

The governor said he was pursuing certain issues while implementing the taskforce report which he felt would be sabotaged if he released it to the Assembly.

Mr Nyagarama said he was prompted to institute a taskforce to investigate how funds had been used in the Ministry of Water, Roads, Health and Agriculture after some concerns were raised that the departments had not utilised well funds allocated to the departments.