Senator and governor trade barbs in new turf war

The long-standing rivalry between Governor John Nyagarama and Senator Okon’go Mong’are has erupted again.

The clashes were sparked by accusations by the senator that the governor was mismanaging county resources.
The governor immediately denied the allegations, saying they were “malicious and uncalled for”.

Mr Mong’are told a news conference on Saturday he would petition the Senate to demand a special audit on how the county government was spending its finances.

He claimed procurement procedures were flouted while acquiring vehicles and public works equipment as no tenders were floated.

He also accused the governor of unnecessarily spending cash on a CT scan machine yet patients could easily access the service at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, only 30 km away.

“I see no reason why the county government bought a CT scan,” Mr Mong’are said.

THREE-WEEK ULTIMATUM

He further accused Mr Nyagarama of running the county “like a private entity” without involving area MPs and his office.

“I have given Mr Nyagarama a three-week ultimatum to put his house in order or else we either go the Makueni or Narok way if impeachment fails,” he said.

The senator also alleged that Mr Nyagarama announced a tender for the construction of Manga Stadium at a cost of Sh30 million without involving Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire.

He claimed work on the stadium had not started though funds had been allocated for it.

The county assembly was not spared, with Mr Mong’are saying members had “abdicated their oversight role and become an appendage of the executive”.
Governor Nyagarama hit back yesterday, saying the allegations were aimed at maligning him and scuttling his agenda.

“Every property my government bought was procured through tendering or the Supply and Procurement Department,” he said.

“For the senator to claim we spent Sh74 million on the CT scan is pure lies. The truth is that we spent Sh43 million.”

On the stadium allegations, he responded: “Contrary to the senator’s claim, materials have been delivered to the site by the contractor, who has started building the perimeter wall, toilets and levelling the ground.”

Mr Nyagarama further clarified that his government had opened up new roads and graded others and was waiting for the rains to reduce to start putting murrum on those that had not been graded.

Mr Okong’o had rubbished the governor’s assertion that his government had done 220km of roads since he took office and challenged journalists to inspect the said roads “to verify the claim.”