MP proposes conditional fund to help Members of the County Assemblies develop wards

Members of the County Assembly (MCA) will be in charge of a ward development kitty if a proposal by Navakholo MP Emmanuel Wangwe is adopted by the National Assembly.

Mr Wangwe proposes the formation of a conditional and specific development fund to wards from the national revenue, modelled along the same lines as the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

"There is need for MCAs to have a conditional fund from the national government to develop their wards because they are currently at the mercy of governors," said Wangwe.

Speaking at Sisokhe village in Kakamega during the burial of his mother, Felista Wangwe, the MP observed that the law would enhance better service delivery to residents at ward level.

He said such a move would help curb corruption and enticement from the county executives, who he claimed only used MCAs to 'rubber stamp' projects.

LIMITED FUNDS

"The oversight role of MCAs has been compromised because governors are enticing them with ward development funds. These funds should be made constitutional to avoid intimidation and favours," he explained.

Wangwe said he would champion the Pesa Mashinani referendum by governors to ensure that more funds were set aside for counties by the national government.

"I will fight for Pesa Mashinani so that MCAs are guaranteed funding for development in their wards. This should be captured by governors in their push for more funds," Wangwe said.

He was supported by Robert Bushuru, the Bunyala West ward rep, who said most projects in wards had stalled due to fragmented allocation of funds.

"We have plans to roll out projects in our wards and boost the lives of the electorate but we have limited funds," Mr Bushuru said.

He noted that some projects demanded more money yet they are allocated Sh11 million by the county government.

"Developing roads requires a lot of money, which we don't have,' he said.