The Kisumu Senator, Fred Outa wants the County’s financial books probed to ascertain possibilities of embezzlement of public funds during the financial year 2016/2017.
At the center of the inquest sits Sh.5 billion purportedly spent on the purchase of vehicles but whose details of transaction, he alleges are shrouded in secrecy.
The other query concerns a Sh.1.5 billion in the county’s book of accounts at the start of the 2017 financial year but whose legitimacy are apparently yet to be accounted for.
The other books the legislator wants scrutinized pertains to expenses amounting to Sh1.3 billion that is reportedly not supported by documentation.
Outa who spoke shortly after he lodged request for official query before the Director of Public Prosecution, Noordin Haji said he was not ready to sit back and watch as public resources get plundered.
He further wants a separate inquiry on the controversial relocation of Kachok dumpsite that reportedly consumed Sh.100million in the financial year under review and has been allocated another Sh. 200 million in the current financial year.
The former Nyando legislator pledged to make further comments once the anti-graft body makes public its findings.
The Senator’s stance comes only a few days after he took a radical position on the woes ailing the sugar sector in the region, and called on governors from the sugar belt region to take action towards streamlining operations in the industry.
He also dismissed as “a circus” the task force recently formed by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Mwangi Kiunjuri to look into issues bedeviling the sugar industry with a view of turning round the waning fortunes of the sector.
The Senator has since found backing from a number of leaders from the sugar belt, including Muhoroni MP, James Onyango K’Oyoo and Lake Basin Development Authority Chair, Odoyo Owidi who have also expressed their reservations over the sugar task force.
The leaders have come down strong in expressing their discontent with the taskforce over claims it was skewed in favor of the private millers over public millers in representation.
This CS toured the sugar belt on Tuesday and reiterated the government’s commitment to resuscitate the debt ridden factories.
The CS who was at pains to understand why public millers wallowed in debts while their private counterparts recorded appreciable profit margins read the riot act and vowed to deal with public sugar management boards that failed to perform.
The CS attributed the bulk of woes ailing the sector on managerial flaws that he noted were exacerbated by illegal importation of cheap sugar.
The leaders however, agreed that time was ripe for a structured engagement by governors in the sugar belt region to take the horn by the rails and delve deeply in addressing the setbacks derailing the sector.
By Milton Onyango
