Busia County governor Sospeter Ojaamong told to shun nepotism in top jobs placements

By RENSON BULUMA

Busia County: A section of elders from Busia County have accused their government of favouritism and nepotism on the allocation of county jobs.

Speaking at a consultative forum that brought together the elders and Governor Sospeter Ojaamong, elders from the Matayos sub-county expressed their displeasure over the way the appointments for top jobs had been done.

“Your Excellency, we have noted with regret that some of these top jobs were skewed to favour certain areas and as a result, some of us are not happy,” said Henry Khalende, the spokesman from Matayos sub-county, adding: “In future, try to be fair to all regions when making such appointments.”

But Ojaamong denied claims of favouritism, saying no appointments have so far been made for the county top jobs. He explained that since taking office, he had only recruited the County Executive committee members and County Public Service Board (CPSB). He said members of each team had been drawn from all the seven sub-counties.

Ojaamong said the responsibility of recruiting and placement of staff lay with CPSB, which he said operates independently.

“It is important that you clearly state the areas that have been favoured and the benefactors because to the best of my knowledge, we have not made any appointments except to the cabinet and CPSB, which was very fair as we considered all the regions and the special groups such as minorities and the disabled,” he said.

At the same time, Ojaamong asked county residents to invest in the region to boost trade and create economic empowerment opportunities.

Wealthy individuals

Ojaamong said the time had come for wealthy individuals from the county who have businesses and other investments outside to consider investing in the area to help improve the economy and reduce poverty.

“As a border town, Busia has the potential to develop to higher levels because of the steady cash flow from the local and neighbouring countries. This could be enhanced if our wealthy brothers and sisters brought their investments home,” he said.

He added that such investments would help improve the local infrastructure and create jobs for the people. “Local investment will spur confidence and interest in other investors to consider Busia as the ideal place to do business.”

Ojaamong made the appeal during the Miss Tourism Busia finals, which brought together 15 contestants from the seven sub-counties of Busia.