Use funds to develop counties, Uhuru tells governors

President Uhuru Kenyatta looks through a book during a tour of the Kenya Literature Bureau in Nairobi on May 30, 2016. Mr Kenyatta called on Kenyans to preserve the country’s heritage, history and culture. PHOTO | PSCU

What you need to know:

  • He said Mrs Madoka’s book preserved the lessons of the past and transmitted the wisdom of Kenya’s elders.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday accused governors of failing to invest tax revenue in projects and services that directly benefit the public.

He challenged the leaders of county governments to stop duplicating services already being offered by other government agencies, and instead use their budgetary allocations to build roads and health institutions to improve the livelihoods of Kenyans.

The President was speaking at the Kenya Literature Bureau headquarters in Nairobi during the launch of an autobiography of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s Social Secretary, Mrs Elizabeth Mumbi Madoka, who was also the first Kenyan to win the Miss Uhuru beauty pageant in 1963 - just before Kenya gained independence.

“Today we are told that you governors have said you want to start printing presses in every county,” he said during the meeting attended by Taita-Taveta Governor John Mruttu and Mr Kinuthia Mbugua of Nakuru.

Hiyo pesa si mtumie kujenga mabarabara na kila kitu? (Why don’t you use that money to build roads and other projects?)” he asked.

Mr Kenyatta also called on Kenyans to preserve the country’s heritage, history and culture.

He said Mrs Madoka’s book preserved the lessons of the past and transmitted the wisdom of Kenya’s elders.

Addressing the gathering, Mrs Madoka said that she and the young Kenyatta’s nanny, Ms Wambui Njage, noticed that the boy was writing with his left hand and thought that this was taboo.

“We tried to make him stop without success,” she recalled, sparking laughter in the audience.

Mrs Madoka’s book was published by the Kenya Literature Bureau.