There’s no cash for development, says Ranguma
What you need to know:
- Speaking during the launch, ECJP Executive Director Jephthah Gathaka urged Kisumu residents to take advantage of the platform and participate in county affairs as required by the Constitution.
- “We realised that our earlier plan to have the whole town covered was not feasible. We did not want to have the same problems like Nakuru,” he told the Nation in his office.
Kisumu governor Jack Ranguma admitted that he has used only one per cent of his budgeted cash on development “because the county has no money”.
Mr Ranguma was responding to a World Bank report showing that Kisumu County has spent only one per cent of its cash on development.
“Kisumu County has no money and the situation is not good,” said Mr Ranguma on Wednesday.
He added: “On the Sh4.8 billion we received from the national government, we used Sh3.1 billion (84 per cent) on salaries, 15 per cent on city maintenance and the remaining one per cent on development.”
Mr Ranguma was speaking during the launch of a bulk SMS platform aimed at opening communication channels between citizens and the county government.
Mr George Onga’nya, the executive committee member for planning and communication said the Kisumu 21142 Imarisha Ugatuzi SMS Platform is a partnership between the county, the Ecumenical Centre for Justice and Peace (ECJP) and Hanns Seidel Foundation.
He also called on citizens to register their names on the SMS application. “This platform is a way of improving communication to the public,” said Mr Onga’nya.
Speaking during the launch, ECJP Executive Director Jephthah Gathaka urged Kisumu residents to take advantage of the platform and participate in county affairs as required by the Constitution.
“The system can be used both in Swahili and English,” said Mr Gathaka.
At the same time, an earlier plan to have free Wi-Fi covering the whole Kisumu town has now been shelved and the hot spot will only cover the central business district.
NO EVICTIONS
Mr Anyong’a said yesterday that this is the only way to avoid jamming the system.
The decision was prompted by difficulties in getting land owners to let their premises for setting up hotspots in the area.
“We realised that our earlier plan to have the whole town covered was not feasible. We did not want to have the same problems like Nakuru,” he told the Nation in his office.
The on-going Kisumu project is targeting a radius of between 5km and 10km.
“Installing Wi-Fi will involve allocation of hotspots, which may prove challenging because we fear resistance from residents who may be asked to vacate to pave way for installation of equipment,” he said.
