Vihiga County Government is at it again! As if last year’s buying of expired malaria drugs for school students, the county government lead by Governor Moses Akaranga spent Ksh1.7 million on installing internet, Ksh11 million on a toilet and Ksh15 million.
The toilet was built for the staff of the county-owned radio station, Vihiga FM, which is yet to begin transmission, two years since it was set up. This generous spending has pushed it into a Ksh2.1 billion debt from The Ksh1.6 billion allocation in 2014-15.
Vihiga Senator George Khaniri on Thursday petitioned the Senate on the county’s spending, putting Governor Akaranga on the spot, the Star reports. Senators passed a resolution calling for a probe on the use of funds, some of which were not approved by the county assembly, as required by law. Speaker Ekwee Ethuro directed the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow, to investigate the alleged misuse of public funds.
The committee will seek to establish how Ksh1.6 billion received from the exchequer for development in the 2014-15 financial year was spent. The figure includes Ksh900 million budgeted by the county assembly for ward development. Also in question are the spending of the Ksh106 million from the Vihiga County Emergency Fund and the use of the Ksh61.6 million released by the Transitional Authority.
The Senate will also probe how the county incurred accumulative pending bills of Ksh2.1 billion. The spending was incurred without assembly approval. It includes the Sh13.5 million for construction of a dining hall at Kaimosi University, the Ksh6 million installation of a generator at the governor’s residence and the Kshh3 million rehabilitation of the 8km Kapsanjo-Habalia road in Busali ward.
