Return our money, CRA told

Bungoma, Kenya: A fire that broke out at a hotel and butchery in Busia on Wednesday has reignited demand for the return to the county of money erroneously given to Bungoma County by Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) in 2013.

The Busia government now wants the money redirected urgently ostensibly to enable it buy fire fighting equipment.

Busia Executive for disaster management Gregory Odeke said the Sh566 million CRA erroneously allocated to Bungoma in the 2013/14 budget will be used for several other priority projects including a firefighting engine if returned.

Property of an unknown value was lost following the fire that gutted down business premises among them a hotel and butchery.

The Busia firefighting engine had broken down and efforts to get services from the Ugandan firefighting engine were fruitless as it could not be accessed immediately due to the distance from Tororo to Busia.

Recently, a sugarcane farmer from Korinda area, a few kilometers from Busia town, lost more than Sh2 million worth sugarcane after fire razed down 20 acres of her plantation.

Ruth Ogolla said efforts to call the county government to help bore no fruit. The county’s department of disaster management told her the engine had broken down.

VISIBLE INJURIES

On the same day the fire was razing down businesses in the county, Mr Odeke, who is also in charge of the county roads, escaped death narrowly when he was involved in a road accident after his driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to overtake a motorbike.

The executive’s car veered off the road, landed into a ditch and overturned in Busia town.

He was pulled from the wreckage of his top of the range Toyota Prado car by good Samaritans with no visible injuries while his driver suffered a cut on the head.

The car was towed to Busia police station.