We have not been awarded contracts by county government, Members of County Assembly say

Murang'a MCAs in a press conference after a notice of motion seeking sacking of county secretary for finance George Kamau was tabled at the local county assembly. PHOTO:BONIFACE GIKANDI

Members of the Murang’a county assembly have denied claims that some of them have been awarded contracts by the county government.

Majority Leader Peter Kihungi said they are barred by regulations to seek contracts from the county government due to conflict of interest.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, the MCAs said a probe would be instituted to establish those contracted by the county government despite the policy. The press conference was convened to shed more light on why a motion to sack Finance Executive George Kamau was tabled.

“To the best of my knowledge none of the MCAs have been contracted by the county government,” Mr Kihungi said. The MCAs also called for the relocation of the rehabilitation centre describing it as a security risk.

They claimed that some of the youths hired to cause chaos at the county assembly were ferried there on Tuesday night. They asked Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph NKaissery to order the relocation of the centre.

ANALYSE DEBT

“What we experienced is a testimony that goons had been sneaked in to the centre with the intention of frustrating the county assembly from conducting its business,” said Kihungi.

On the Sh2.5 billion debt, the assembly has sought the assistance of the controller of budget and the auditor general to help analyse debt registers.

“We are calling for experts to help verify some of the debts because some defunct local authorities that some of us served had cleared their debts before devolution came in to force,” he said. On Tuesday, MPs Sabina Chege (Woman Representative) and Alice Wahome (Kandara) said there was need for investigations on how some of the debts were incurred.

They faulted MCAs for allegedly failing to detect anomalies in the management of finances at the county level. Ms Wahome said some of the contractors lacked supporting documents to demand payments despite having completed assignments.

“We need sanity in administration of county resources but the assembly and the governor must work towards settling of the debts,” she said.