•The Governor says that there are allegations that Murkomen hired some of his family members some of whom have been drawing salary from the Parliamentary Service Commission.
•Tolgos said the amount of these political sideshows, dirty politics of blackmail and deceit will sort the realities of underfunding challenges facing Elgeyo Marakwet County.
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos has hit out Senator Kipchumba Murkomen after he made comments about the state of affairs in the county.
Tolgos on Monday alleged Murkomen is planning to launch an impeachment bid against him after he made a statement that the proceeds of Arror and Kimwarer dams scandal were being used to cause friction in the county.
"The senator through Assembly Speaker Kiplagat Sabulei, is personally plotting to use Arror Ward MCA Christopher Chemosong who is also the deputy Speaker to engineer the impeachment motion of the governor with the intention of warding off the allegations of Arror -Kimwarer dams scandal money being responsible for fueling political temperatures in our county," Tolgos said
"Having attempted to use the Assembly to undermine my administration, the senator is now using all manner of diversionary tactics to shift attention from the real issues on the ground."
Tolgos said he has no problem speaking for the people of Elgeyo Marakwet and if by mentioning Arror and Kimwarer gets him impeached by MCAs, then it is a sacrifice he is ready to take, adding that he would not be cowed.
"After all, if I am to go home today, my development record speaks for itself and what I have achieved for the last 7 years will not be erased," Tolgos remarked.
The Elgeyo Marakwet boss said some of the diversionary tactics Murkomen is using include saying that there are ghost workers in the county government and referring to people who are headed for retirement as 'ghosts'.
"If Murkomen is really serious with his oversight role, let him visit the county on an official working day and identify the purported 'ghost workers' himself and also go round to get views from the electorate instead of the occasional roadside political meetings where he makes wayward statements without being asked any question," Tolgos said.
He said that in the same spirit of enhancing accountability, as Murokmen comes to identify 'ghost workers', he should also be ready to allow the county government to scrutinise the list of employees he hired to the office of Senator since 2013 because they are also paid through the county taxpayers' money.
The governor alleged Murkomen hired some of his family members to the county.
"On the issue of the allocation of money, it is now clearly known who is pushing for more money to the County Assembly at the expense of the service delivery to the people of Elgeyo Marakwet County," Tolgos said in a statement.
"In as much as Murkomen wants to portray me as 'weak' through the push for more money to Assembly and reducing the executive to punish the governor, he will not be punishing me but the people of Elgeyo Marakwet who will suffer the consequences of being deprived of development."
Tolgos claimed it is Murkomen who is pulling the strings at the County Assembly to create disharmony for purposes of selfish political interests aimed at undermining the functioning of the current regime to portray the governor in a bad light.
Murkomen said Tolgos has been calling for the dissolution of Elgeyo Marakwet County and return of functions to the National Government because of his "inability to run the functions."
"I am of the view that incompetence and poor grasp of constitutional functions cannot be hidden in machinations and schemes that will further hurt the people of Elgeyo Marakwet county," he said.
Murkomen added that Tolgos's continuous complaints of a huge wage bill in the county are hypocritical, as the Auditor General in his report of Financial Year 2017-18 has indicted the Governor for his appetite for unprocedural hiring of staff without approved staff establishment.
"The Governor may have hired a lot of staff then without regard to the due process to rekindle his waning political fortunes and to secure a return to office in the 2017 General Election."
Murkomen in a statement said that In the Auditor-General’s report referred to above, the Governor is indicted for hiring cowboy contractors who have delivered shoddy work for the county.
He said that Governor Tolgos claims are an outward manifestation of his frustrations after a contractor he allegedly lobbied for in the Kimwarer and Arror projects submitted an unsuccessful bid.
"If the claims of canvassing on the part of the Governor are true, then his cries could be a case of sour grapes." Murkomen added.
Murkomen said in a statement, he does not believe impeachment is the best solution to the challenges currently facing the county as a result of gross incompetence and acute maladministration.
Murkomen said that his office is ready and willing to mediate between the two arms of county government.
"I therefore, wish to advise Tolgos to give dialogue a chance instead of authoring his own problems as he has been doing for nearly seven (7) years now," Murkomen said.