MCAs to control Sh1.2bn development fund after defying Governor Mandago

'The new law will ensure that all wards are treated equally in development matters'.

by MATHEWS NDANYI

Health05 July 2019 - 10:11

In Summary

•Governor Jackson Mandago's administration denied full control of Sh3 billion for development

•The executive has in the past been deciding which projects to finance in each ward

The Uasin Gishu Assembly in session on JUly 4th

Each of Uasin Gishu's 30 wards will get Sh43 million for development after the enactment of a county equitable development law that the governor refused to sign.

The Uasin Gishu Equitable Development Act 2019 has already been gazetted and ward reps will henceforth control 40 per cent of development funds.

This means that Governor Jackson Mandago's administration has been denied full control of the more than Sh3 billion for development.

The governor declined to sign the bill approved by the MCAs arguing that wards in the county did not have the same needs. The MCAs returned it to him, effectively making the bill a law with or without his signature.

Thereafter Speaker David Kiplagat forwarded the bill to the Government Printer for publication.

“The Uasin Gishu County Equitable Development Act 2019 is now a law in our county and has to be applied by the executive in the distribution of development funds starting immediately,” Kiplagat said.

The executive has in the past been deciding which projects to finance in each ward.

“The new law will ensure that all wards are treated equally in development matters. Even in future, governors will not sideline wards for political reasons,” Huruma ward MCA Peter Chomba said.

Chomba and his Langas counterpart Francis Muya complained that their wards received little funding yet they were the main contributors of the county revenue.

Each ward will have a development committee to guide it on budgeting and use of the money.

Meanwhile, Mandago has nominated Edwin Bett to be county secretary. The nominee's name has been forwarded to the committee on appointments for vetting.

Bett has been acting after Peter Leley, who had been the secretary, was appointed the chief executive officer of the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee by the national government.

Mandago has also nominated Rebecca Chepchirchir as the chairperson of the County Inua Biashara Fund. Peter Muraya, Carolyne Cherono, Abdi Ibrahim and Hosea Mengich are the other members of the board.