The Kirinyaga County Government has denied claims that it opened a Facebook account for its Governor Joseph Ndathi for Sh1.2 million. The county’s Director General of Communication, Joseph Murimi, said that the contract was not to open the social media account, which was already in existence.
The allegations were fanned by the Auditor General’s report that revealed that in the 2013-2014 financial year, Kirinyaga paid On-Mobi Kenya Sh 1,231,280 for the services.
Through the CEC in charge of Finance, Murimi Murage, the county said that, “These claims are outrageous and meant to taint the image of the county government by some elements out there whose main occupation is to spread rumours.’’
Murage also explained that during the transition period, the county did not have any communications personnel, and even now it has just a skeleton staff due to financial constraints.
The CEC said it was during the transition that the services were procured and entailed the management, messaging and gathering of content which included audio and video clips, as well as still pictures for all social media platforms for and on behalf of the Kirinyaga County Government.
He also said the procurement included the forwarding of such content to relevant departments for their follow-up and action as well as providing daily, weekly and quarterly analytical reports emanating from the social media platforms.
