Governors must account for funds under their care

Wajir North MP Ibrahim Saney. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

There is a devastating drought in northern Kenya counties, with over four million Kenyans staring at starvation. The hunger is humiliating with the dry spell being the worst in the last 40 years.

Amid the dire situation, it is unkind and insensitive for costly walls to be built around hospitals in my home county of Wajir. The health facilities can hardly care for patients or even dispense over-the counter drugs, but someone is comfortable sinking money into such structures as residents face drought.

Sadly, there is no disclosure on the amounts of public funds being used for such projects and there was no public participation or clear tendering process.

There was also money spent to rehabilitate vehicles servicing the health facility. This is because they belong to public works office that was taken over from the national government in the first term of devolution to hoodwink people that it is a better option. This has become a conduit to siphon public funds.

Can we be told how much went to reawaken this project and how it was tendered for? Procurement laws are clear and that must be made public. The use of technology is not sufficient to hide and runaway with people's right.

In our counties, when we don't get our priorities right, services are not delivered. Some nine years ago, I spoke on the useless ward administration offices, which are now in deplorable state and disuse today. Why were these monies spent and what is the return on expenditure?

Remember what was called fresh-produce markets all over the wards popularly known us Bunge ya Punda. There was no thinking of the fresh produce first, except the physical market for tenderprenuers. It was a useless developmental plan without figuring out the real supply chain.

Next is the multi-million shilling abattoir. What does it do? Did the county invest in pasture managment, animal health or holding grounds before the final livestock products to help residents during drought through off-take?

No real supply chain for this unit was considered. Do we have five veterinary doctors in each ward?

On tarmac roads, Wajir County needs a proper road linking it to Nairobi for service delivery, easy people movement and trade. Why only tarmac Wajir's narrow streets with a background of bucket toilets?

Lack of understanding of real development for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) is the real challenge here in most northern Kenya counties. When county leadership is given to auditors who are ordinarily back-office staff, such mess is inevitable.

Now, as we mark a decade of devolution, we must ask ourselves whether this system has solved our problems.

What do we have to show for the trillions of shillings put into the 47 counties? Are we proud of what we have achieved? Or did we just devolve corruption and tribalism from the capital centre to the new administrative and elective units?

Some county leaders are stealing from the poor then go to holy grounds and pretend to pray for rain. Rain only comes when we are true with our faith. We must protect taxpayers' money. The national government should audit all the funds sent to the counties.

-The writer is Wajir North MP