Gem Member of Parliament, Elisha Odhiambo has challenged the government to take action against companies suspected to have benefitted from Covid-19 funds through illegal deals.
Odhiambo said a number of the companies that swindled the public of millions of shillings through inflated prices and other underhand deals have hidden the details of their directors, something that he said required thorough audit to reveal the faces behind them.
He was speaking to the media at Sinaga Girls’ High School in Gem Yala Sub County during a leaders meeting to determine the headquarters of the new administrative unit.
The legislator said Kenya cannot be surrendered to briefcase companies run by amorphous individuals out to fleece tax payers.
“Government must move swiftly and use its machinery to authenticate and verify the ownership of the companies,” he said.
He said he was shocked to learn that two companies from Siaya were among the companies that have been contracted to supply the personal protective gear but attempts to get more details of the same on the ground were futile.
Odhiambo also said the Senate has failed the country after attempts to pass the Revenue Allocation Bill hit a snag for a record eight times.
He said that the Senate should have consulted with the Commission for Revenue Allocation and reached a consensus on the right formula.
On claims that some regions have developed at the expense of others, the legislator told leaders and tycoons to invest in their areas so as to open them up.
“There is this talk that Northern Kenya has been forgotten and least developed. I challenge leaders and tycoons from this region to stop investing all their resources in Eastleigh, Nairobi, and start taking such investments in their regions to open them up,” he said.
Odhiambo said that tycoons from around Nairobi, Central and Rift Valley regions were investing in their localities, hence opening up the infrastructure.
During the meeting, leaders from three of the four wards in Gem Yala sub county, East Gem, North Gem and Yala Township agreed to have the headquarters in Yala Township. Representatives from Central Gem ward were however divided on whether the headquarters should remain at its current location in Nyangweso or Yala.
Gem Sub County was recently subdivided into two to create Gem Wagai and Gem Yala sub counties.
Odhiambo hailed the government move and expressed hope that a Deputy County Commissioner and other government departmental heads would soon be posted in Gem Wagai to actualize it.
By Philip Onyango
