• After the audit, Kang’ata announced that his administration will then come up with a payment plan to have them cleared.
• Assets such as the multi-billion Murang'a County Creameries plant will also be audited to establish their status.
Image: Alice Waithera
@Alicewangechi
New Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata on Thursday said he will write to the Auditor General to have the county pending bills audited.
Kang’ata revealed that the county has pending bills amounting to Sh2 billion and that a special audit will be conducted to determine the genuine ones before they are settled.
This will ensure the new county government does not pay ghost workers and unfairly enrich a few individuals.
Kang’ata who spoke at Ihura stadium in Murang’a town when he was sworn-in, said paying the bills in their entirety would slow down development.
After the audit, Kang’ata announced that his administration will then come up with a payment plan to have them cleared.
“I however believe that those who are genuinely owed should be paid because some even take loans,” he said.
The new administration will have some of the county government’s assets audited to establish their status, with the first in line being the multi-billion shilling Murang’a County Creameries plant in Maragua.
The plant collects milk from dairy farmers through their dairy co-operative societies for value-addition.
“This audit will help me create a baseline to know where my administration will start. I know the task ahead of me is huge but I will do my best,” he assured residents.
Image: Alice Waithera
Kang'ata said his government will establish policies that will create a free market and attract investors to create jobs.
Within 100 days, Kang’ata promised to come up with a formula that will ensure county workers’ salaries are paid without delays.
He also revealed that Wa Iria’s government had already signed a binding agreement with Del Monte fruit processing company in which it committed to cede 1,400 acres.
The county government has been fighting to have part of the company’s land that lies along the prime Thika-Kenol highway with the aim of establishing a modern city.
But Kang’ata said his priority will be to establish a new Level 5 hospital on the land to serve the highly populated Kenol area.
“If I were there then, I would have negotiated for a better deal but I’ll make the best deal out of the situation. The people of Murang’a will get a chance to express their desire on what should be done with the land.”
He said his administration’s key area of priority is healthcare, which has been ailing, with many hospitals lacking vital drugs.
It is the role of any government to ensure the health needs of its people are taken care of, Kang'ata said.
The county has a huge aging population that has increased the prevalence of chronic illnesses such diabetes and hypertension.
Kang’ata’s administration will set aside funds in partnership with the county assembly to enrol more people into NHIF for free to give them access to healthcare.
According to the 2019 Census, the county has about 300,000 households out of which 40,000 are enrolled in NHIF.
It also has one level five hospital, Murang’a County Referral Hospital, that is overwhelmed by a rising health burden.
Unfinished health facilities such as Kirwara in Gatanga and Bildad Kagia in Kandara will be completed.
In the agriculture sector, the new governor pledged to establish a fund that will offer inputs support to farmers.
“The outgoing governor gave farmers manure, nappier grass and sweet potato vines but we will not go that direction. We will use co-operatives to give you money directly to buy your preferred inputs”.
Kang’ata said he will sit down with lawyers to see how best to decentralise development in the county after the Supreme Court ruled that legislators should not implement development projects.
He had pledged to establish a Ward Fund to enable MCAs to effect development in their areas even when they fall out with the governor.
Edited by A.N