The County Government of Kakamega will deploy an electronic project monitoring system to capture the progress of project implementation.
The move according to Governor Fernandes Barasa, will reduce high cases of stalled, incomplete or poor quality projects.
He said the County Government will also adopt a value for money approach in the implementation of County projects, to reduce widespread practice of inflated bills of quantities and collusion between contractors and some unscrupulous government officers.
Barasa was speaking after witnessing the swearing in of County Executive Committee Members (CECs) and Chief Officers, at the Bukhungu Stadium. The Oath of Office was administered by the County Attorney, Vivian Mbaka.
He advised the appointed officers to strictly adhere to the principles of good governance as enshrined in the Public Officers’ Ethics Act 2003, the Public Finance Management Act 2012 as well as leadership and integrity Act 2012.
“Serving the public calls for personal sacrifice, as you are all aware the expectations of the county citizens and all the stakeholders are very high, you will be called upon to work persistently for long hours away from your comfort of your homes and families and more often than not without compensation. This nevertheless is expected of you given your senior positions in government,” he noted.
He warned that it will not be a ‘walk in the park’ for those in authority to improve the quality of life for the people advising for a robust revenue collection to realize programs and projects outlined in the manifesto for the people of Kakamega County.
“Let us enhance the collection of our own source revenue through land rates, health services, advertisements, single business permits, sales, building plans approval among others,” he added.
The Governor also said that apart from strengthening the devolved Sub County treasury services, the county government will strengthen the contract management system to weed out briefcase and incompetent contractors warning that his government will not tolerate corruption.
“I want to state categorically that my government will have zero tolerance to corruption. I will not hesitate to dismiss any person found culpable of corrupt practices and we shall further institute civil or criminal proceedings against such persons,” he said.
“Rampant corruption is a problem that if not tamed right now will bring most of you to your knees and with taint names, destroy careers,” he noted.
At the same time, he lamented against delayed disbursement of funds from the National Treasury, which he said undermines project takeover and completion.
“Today counties are in arrears of Sh90 Million being disbursements for the months of October, November and December, as a result many contractors face bankruptcy and the list of abandoned or delayed projects gets longer by the day affecting service delivery hence the suffering of the common Mwananchi in all the 47 counties,” he noted.
He urged the National Government to expedite the transfer of the counties equitable share without undue delay.
Deputy Governor, Ayub Savula, said the cabinet reflects the diversity of Kakamega County asking them to keep away from politics and any interference of their work.
By Moses Wekesa
