Nakuru MCAs give Governor Kinyanjui 14 days to appoint minister

Nakuru County Assembly has passed a motion compelling Governor Lee Kinyanjui to appoint a minister for Infrastructure within 14 days.

The House resolved that the governor should forward the name of his nominee in line with article 179(1) (b) of the Constitution.

CRUCIAL PROJECTS

However, the governor is not bound to comply with the motion sponsored by Naivasha East MCA Stanley Karanja.

“The acting executive for Infrastructure Dr Erick Korir, who is also the deputy governor, is holding an equally demanding office and hence delaying implementation of crucial projects in the county,” said Mr Karanja.

Former Infrastructure Executive Lucy Kariuki was impeached by the assembly last year.

However, after the impeachment Governor Kinyanjui transferred Ms Kariuki to Sports, Youth, Gender and Culture department.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nakuru has since declared the impeachment of Ms Kariuki as null and void.

In a debate on Wednesday, the 78-member Assembly said that the deputy governor was overwhelmed by the two offices.

Mr Karanja said that efforts to summon the deputy governor to explain the slow upgrade of roads has been futile.

“This motion is crucial for our survival and if we want to retain our seats come 2022, we must fast-track the upgrade of our roads in the wards and that can be facilitated with a substantive executive for roads,” said Mr Karanja.

CONFUSION

Lake View MCA Karanja Mburu said the confusion in the department is due to lack of a substantive minister.

“The deputy governor is overwhelmed and it is sad that this motion is driven by tribal undertones as some MCAs want to defend one of their own,” said Mr Karanja.

He said the Boresha Barabara programme is only concentrated in Kuresoi North and South as other regions continue to suffer.

However, Sirikwa MCA Alfred Mutai defended the acting minister saying the roads in Kuresoi were in pathetic state in comparison to other regions in the county.

Biashara MCA Peter Njoroge said motions passed by the House were not implemented by the executive.

“Nakuru cannot become a city with no street lights while half of the town is not tarmacked because the executive never takes this House with the seriousness it deserves,” said Mr Njoroge.

Kaptembwa MCA Peter Mwamba Kajwang said the Infrastructure docket was the root cause of poor absorption of development funds in the county.

According to County Fiscal Strategy Paper for 2020, the county has only absorbed two per cent of its Sh10 billion development funds which translates to Sh500 million in the current financial year.

APPOINT MINISTER

“The projects in the Infrastructure department are dormant and Governor Kinyanjui must move with speed and appoint a substantive minister for Infrastructure to unlock the development pace in the county,” said Mr Kajwang.

Subukia MCA Mary Waiganjo said the dead in her ward cannot be transported to mortuary due to poor state of the roads.

Dundori MCA Michael Machembu Chege said the department of Infrastructure was a big letdown. He said that instead of implementing the Boresha Barabara programme, it was fighting over the control of millions of shillings allocated to the department.

The Leader of Minority Peter Palanga and Mariashoni MCA Douglas Ayabei described the department as a big failure to implementation of roads projects.

MCA Erick Gichuki (Viwandani, Naivasha) claimed the current acting Infrastructure executive was biased and accuse the executive of diverting projects to Kuresoi South and North.

Maai Mahiu MCA Stephen Ng’ethe said Boresha Barabara project was not working due to lack of policies.

Other ward reps who supported the motion included Rose Gathoni Njoroge (nominated), Gathariki Kamanu (Maillea), Eddy Kiragu (Flamingo) and Samuel Kariuki Mugi (Mbaruk /Eburu).