By KIPCHUMBA KEMEI
A section of Narok leaders want the local county council to recall councillors it has deployed in Maasai Mara Game Reserve to monitor revenue collection.
They also want police to stop harassing members of the local community who have been protesting against the manner in which the council awarded Equity Bank a ten-year contract to collect park entry fees.
On Monday the leaders led by a former Narok North MP Moses ole Marima and a former council chairman William Yeile, and the clergy said the civic leaders are not auditors to audit the weekly collections.
"The council contracted an entity to collect entry fees on its behalf and it should leave that work to them. If the council is not satisfied with the contractor it should cancel the deal," Yeile told a news conference at a local hotel on Monday.
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Yeile added that the presence of councillors at the gates was disturbing because there unproven claims that corruption was still rife at all entry points to the reserve.
"Councillors are supposed to be policy makers and not the implementers. Since the council contracted the bank to collect revenue for it a lot of money have been pilfered to the extent that the civic body cheques are not honoured by all the local banks," claimed Yeile who was the chairman between 1989 and 1993.
He claimed that the council was operating on overdrafts to meets its overheads, including paying its 2,600 work force and petitioned Local Government Ministry to send auditors to audit its accounts.
"We have reports that the council which was once vibrant and rich is indebted to the tune of Sh60 million. In the interest of the public it should cancel the contract it awarded the bank and a fresh tender advertised," charged Yeile.
A survey by The Standard in the reserve at the weekend established that councillors have been deployed in all gates to monitor the collections and reconcile them with the receipts from tour companies.
Council chairman Joseph Nkadado said the e-ticketing system is the best, adding that in December last year they colectedSh77 million.
He said last week that the council would next month receive awards in Europe for successfully implementing the tamper proof system.
