Nandi MCAs fail to attend BBI launch, cite ‘cash crunch’

Nandi MCAs on Thursday said they failed to attend the launch of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report at the Bomas of Kenya on Wednesday because they were not given money to travel to Nairobi for the function.

The MCAs said they had received invitations to attend the launch which was presided over by President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga but did not attend as they did not get travelling allowances owing to a financial crisis in the county.

They said they had asked the county government to provide them with the travelling allowances to go for the BBI event but did not get any money.

Assembly Deputy Speaker Wilson Sang, Terik Ward MCA Osborn Komen and Kapsabet counterpart Fred Kemboi said they were unable to travel because the county was in a serious financial crisis.

They protested that the county government was allegedly broke.

FINANCIAL CRISIS

“All the 39 MCAs were invited to attend the BBI meeting in Bomas in Nairobi but the county government failed to provide us with travelling allowances and since the Assembly relied on the county executive for its budget we decided to boycott the BBI launching in Nairobi,” said Mr Kemboi.

The Deputy Speaker said the MCAs were willing to travel but did not get the allowances.

“The county government should put its house in order,” Mr Komen said.

Mr Komen warned that critical services could be grounded in the county because of the financial crisis.

“Within a week key services in Nandi County will be grounded because the financial crisis,” he warned.

The Kapchorwa Ward MCA Justine Chepnyango, however, urged top political leaders to work together and use the BBI to reconcile the country saying the public should be given enough time to read and debate the document before accepting or rejecting it.