Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya has accused Senator Bonny Khalwale of solely being behind woes that have befallen cane farmers.
Oparanya further accused Khalwale of using every opportunity to
politick at funerals, crippling the county's efforts to revive Mumias Sugar Company.
"As much as my leadership is trying to look for ways to settle the woes of the company, people like Khalwale are busy jumping from one funeral to the other inciting residents against the county government," he said.
He added during a Radio Jambo interview on Tuesday that some
leaders
are accustomed to baseless politics.
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Oparanya said the county realised the main source of conflict at the miller is that farmers have gone very long without pay.
"When we realised this, we stepped in and organised, with the company's management, on how farmers would receive their dues," he said.
"Unfortunately some people brought in cheap politics that destroyed the whole deal."
The Governor said the county has been
lobbying for 20 per cent ownership of the factory, in order to have a say in decision-making.
He explained that having a county director in the company's board will help keep Kakamega updated on progress.
"We are currently lobbying for policies that will help us revive the factory. We further want Parliament to come up with legislation to protect sugar cane farming," he said.
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In June, Khalwale censured Oparanya over a cane buying centre set up by a Kisumu factory.
He said the Governor exhibited lack of concern for Mumias Sugar Company by allowing the establishment of the centre in Shikunga, Butere.
The Senator challenged the Governor to establish a cane development plan for the three sugar factories in Kakamega – Mumias, Butali and West Kenya.
Regarding devolution, Oparanya accused the national government of crippling the process, saying budgetary allocations were insufficient.
He said counties were only getting 30 per cent funding yet the Council of Governors would like an increase to 45 per cent, for all functions to run smoothly.
"The current battle of supremacy in the national government is affecting us. The delayed disbursement and under-funding is doing more harm resulting in frequent strikes in counties," he said.
The Governor dismissed claims that his government has
neglected the health sector and that it is slowly deteriorating.
"About 30 per cent of our funding goes to health. We are putting up a Sh6 billion facility to cater for the increasing needs," he said.
Oparanya said the nurses strike was as a result of incitement by some politicians and internal forces,
"My county is small with about two million people, I know poverty levels are high but my leadership has tried," he said.
"We have renovated and refurbished several primary and secondary schools, employed about 2,000 ECD teachers, 545 teachers and about 3,000 youth. We cannot be everywhere all the time and do everything at the same time."