Bomet County Assembly Deputy Speaker Joyce Korir. She has said she will
lead other MCAs to introduce an impeachment motion against Governor
Isaac Ruto if he fails to step aside to be investigated on corruption
allegations. Mr Ruto is among governors mentioned on the EACC list of
leaders under investigations for corruption. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Members of the Bomet County Assembly have now threatened to
begin impeachment proceeding against their beleaguered Governor Isaac
Ruto.
Mr Ruto, who is the chairman of the Council of
Governors, has defied a presidential directive to step aside so that he
may be investigated on corruption allegations against him.
Addressing
journalists in Litein Town, Kericho County, on Saturday, four MCAs, led
by Deputy Speaker Joyce Korir, said they had had “enough of misuse of
funds by the county boss”.
Mrs Korir lauded as bold the
move by President Uhuru Kenyatta to release the list of elected and
appointed leaders who are under investigation by the Ethics and
Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
“We are now asking our governor to step aside and pave (the) way for investigations to be conducted against him.
“Being
named by the EACC does not mean he is guilty, but if he fails to step
aside, I will personally table an impeachment motion against him,” she
said.
But even then, she raised concerns that the
"tyranny of numbers" in the assembly, which has seen more MCAs stick by
Governor Ruto, could work against those in agreement with the planned
impeachment.
The Singorwet ward representative said the
assembly had already voted to sack the county government’s director of
Finance and was in the process of impeaching the Finance executive. Both
were accused of financial misappropriation.
ADEQUATE PROOF
She said the assembly has adequate proof that public funds had been stolen in Bomet.
Mrs
Korir said since its establishment two years ago, the Bomet County
government had received Sh7.8 billion from the national government.
From
the 2014 allocation of Sh3.4 billion, she claimed that the county
government could not account for Sh61 million, which had been set aside
for the construction of a new county assembly; Sh10 million for the
construction of tea-buying centres; Sh44 million meant to go to the
SteGro Sacco; and Sh10 million for people living with disabilities.
Other
allocations that the county government could not account for at the end
of the last financial year, according to her, include Sh75 million
meant for youth programmes and Sh55 million for women's projects.
“All these are funds (that) we put in the budget but which the county government never used for the intended purposes.
“Financial reports are up-to-date, but on the ground, things are different,” she alleged.
Another
allegation that the MCAs have raised against Mr Ruto is that he awards
huge construction contracts to himself and his relatives against
existing procurement laws.
UNHAPPY WITH GOVERNOR RUTO
The
deputy Speaker said she was unhappy that Governor Ruto had told primary
school heads that they would receive Sh300,000 for the construction of
Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) centres when the county
assembly had in fact budgeted for Sh950,000 per school.
Kapletundo Ward Representative Bernard Ng’eno said the governor had no option but to quit.
He
said the MCAs had lost confidence in Mr Ruto after he was named in the
EACC report as one of the governors whose governments are accused of
engaging in corrupt deals.
“The governor should step
aside so that the deputy governor can take up his position in acting
capacity until he is cleared of the allegations facing him. If he is
found to be guilty, he should be prosecuted and jailed,” he said.
Mr
Ng’eno defended Deputy President William Ruto on allegations that he
was using MCAs to frustrate the operations of the Bomet County
government.
“The DP is a national leader, unlike Isaac Ruto, and does not have time to engage in county politics.
“We are urging the governor to desist from abusing the DP,” he said.
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