Siaya governor James Orengo has raised alarm over infiltration of crooked ‘tenderpreneurs’ at the county government offices where they operate with impunity like the infamous Mafia gangs from Sicily.
He said that the tenderpreneurs had infiltrated almost every section in the county government to the point that they accessed virtually all the documents and transaction at the county offices in real time.
He was speaking during a public participatory meeting with the civil society on how to implement the recommendations of a taskforce chaired by former Auditor General, Edward Ouko on the county’s financial operations.
The governor said that for the county to move ahead, the clique must be dealt with and sanity restored in both the finance and procurement dockets that are widely affected.
“To free the energy of this county, we must deal with these characters,” said the governor adding that the clique was dangerous and could kill.
Orengo expressed concern that the “mafia” had agents and were trailing the movement of documents within finance and procurement.
“The worst thing is that they have agents and every single paper that is processed, even at the approval stage, is always in the public domain,” he lamented.
He ordered the finance department to make public all the tender awards and if possible, the reasons for the choice of the winners.
Orengo called on county government staff to perform their tasks as expected, lamenting that some have to be pushed to perform.
He gave an example of the revenue department which, he said, was performing below par but when the taskforce was formed, revenue collection suddenly improved.
Former government Auditor General Edward Ouko called on the Siaya County Assembly to stick to the law during the budget making process, adding that any change that it makes on a budget made by the executive must not exceed the legal one percent requirement.
“Assembly’s work is to oversight, not to do the budget. That is the role of the executive,” said Ouko.
The interactive meeting, which was held in a Siaya hotel, was also attended by the deputy governor, William Oduol and top county government officials, among them Chief of Staff Colonel (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna.
By Philip Onyango
