Governor Ranguma hits back at MCAs

Kisumu County Assembly has passed a revised budget of Sh8.4 billion down from an earlier Sh10 billion after members shot down an attempt by the executive to borrow Sh1 billion to plug the deficit.

The MCAs endorsed the budget after hours of debate, during which they forced the executive to expunge the proposed Sh1 billion loan. But in a response to the MCA’s action, Governor Jack Ranguma hit back by reducing the budget. In a letter addressed to the Assembly dated June 29, the executive scrapped off the Sh700 million set aside for development of the County Assembly in the 2016/2017 budget estimates. In a letter to the Assembly Clerk, Finance and Planning Executive George Ongaya, the Governor said he had instituted measures to have the development ceilings reduced by 15 per cent across all sectors, with an exception of the Roads and Public Department.

“The further deficit of Sh300 million has been taken care of by reducing 15 per cent of the development ceilings across all sectors,” the letter read in part.

The executive also reduced operation and maintenance allocations in all sectors by 14 percent. These has seen the budget estimates drop from the initial Sh10 billion to Sh8.4 billion.