MCAs criticised over Sh30m foreign tours

BY JAMES MUNYEKI

NYANDARUA COUNTY: Residents and the civil society in Nyandarua have protested against a planned tour by Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) to three countries from next week.

They have at the same time asked the assembly to explain how over Sh1.2 million was used to recruit officers at the assembly, among them the clerk.

The MCAs are set to tour Malaysia, Singapore and Brazil, a trip that is estimated to cost the taxpayers some Sh30 million.

The residents argue that the tour is uncalled for at this time when they are faced with many challenges.

They said the money should have been used for development matters, among them the improvement of infrastructure that has led to farmers incurring losses as they cannot access markets due to bad roads.

Nyandarua Tuko Macho Forum Chairman Macharia Mukua said the tour was not a priority, terming the move as a waste of resources.

“We have so many problems affecting our people and it would be a shame to see the county representatives traversing the world with our money. We elected them to address our issues and not to misuse our money,” he said.

Mr Mukua regretted that the assembly was concentrating on holding seminars and travelling instead of enacting laws.

“It is a shame that our money is going to waste just because they are held up in seminars and retreats. This will not help the people who elected them,” he said.

He questioned how the Sh1.2 million was used for the recent recruitment exercise. This is in exclusion of the newspaper adverts placed.

Already, the Chairman of the Legislative Committee in the assembly, Wahome Kamoche, has written to the acting clerk demanding an explanation on how four individuals in the interview panel were paid the amount.

In his letter, Mr Kamoche alleges that the chairman was paid Sh312,000 while the others got the rest for working for 12 days during which the interviews were conducted.

In a post on the Nyandarua County assembly Facebook page, Speaker Ndegwa Wahome defended the trip as well as the money spent on the interviews.

“On the foreign trips, the national Government provided a budget for the same. We are required to spend the same or be returned to Treasury,” said Mr Wahome.