• Says some employees had taken advantage of his busy schedule of national duty to engage in graft.
• The county government has suspended more than 10 accountants and clerks over alleged financial impropriety in the last three months.
Image: HILTON OTENYO
Kakamega county workers who will be implicated in corruption in ongoing external audit will be sacked, Governor Wycliffe Oparanya has said.
Speaking during the swearing-in of three new chief officers at the county chambers in Kakamega town on Wednesday, the governor said some employees had taken advantage of his busy schedule of national duty to engage in graft.
Oparanya also serves as the chairman of the Council of Governors. He admitted there was corruption in his administration and put workers on notice.
The county government has suspended more than 10 accountants and clerks over alleged financial impropriety in the last three months.
“We have had cases where people have stolen and when you ask that they be subjected to internal probe, you are told they were acquitted. This is corruption. This has forced us to use independent individuals because people inside here cannot be trusted,” Oparanya said.
He said he will dedicate most of his time to dealing with corruption in the county.
“My national mandate that has been keeping me busy is coming to an end and I will soon be here with you. If the report touches on you, it doesn’t matter whether you are my friend or relative. You will go,” the governor said.
He said he wants to leave a legacy after his tenure as the first Kakamega governor and will not take responsibility for omissions and commissions by people he appointed.
The CoG chairman urged the National Treasury to release Sh28 billion that has been delayed to counties so the regional governments can clear their pending bills.
Oparanya also asked the Senate to adopt the new proposed revenue sharing formula, saying the country has engaged in illegalities in the last two years because it has shared funds to counties using an outdated method.
The governor was addressing senior county staff at the county chambers during the swearing-in of three new chief officers appointed after a reshuffle in April.
Deputy Governor Philip Kutima, county assembly majority leader Joel Ongoro and Public Service and Administration executive Beatrice Sabana were present.
Oparanya said the county had identified land for mass graves in the event the regional government is overwhelmed by deaths resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said a surge in new infections is expected in the counties after the reopening of Nairobi and Mombasa counties, the hotspots for infections.
“We have identified two parcels of land - one in the southern and another in the northern regions where we will bury people if the deaths are more and we are unable to take the bodies to their homes like the spike in America,” he said.
He said his administration had identified the New Mumias Hospital, Likuyani Level 4 Hospital and the Kakamega General Hospital as Covid-19 isolation units.
Oparanya said that families should ask their relatives in Nairobi and Mombasa to remain there or quarantine themselves for 14 days if they travel home to avoid community infections.
Edited by P.O