Nandi County Senator Samson Cherargei has accused the Kenya Kwanza Government of opulence in the Senate and National Assembly despite a Ksh500 million debt in the form of pending bills.
Referring to the new renovations made to it, the senator noted that some of the new upgrades like the new carpet and coat of paint were not necessary.
Despite expressing the need to be magnanimous in terms of spending after what he calls being run out of town by Gen Z, Charargei revealed that this was exactly what happened during the renovations.
Speaking on September 17 during the Senate plenary proceedings, the senator stated that this was all a waste of Kenyans’ taxpayer money and it should have been injected into more important sectors.
“The money that was being used to do renovations of paint, of carpet, we should have given to committees to go and visit Naivasha, see GDC, go and visit Wananchi in Kisumu, in Bomet and ask them what is the challenge with electricity.” the Nandi senator suggested.
He emphasised that the public accounts committee, which he sits on, does not have funds which is quite restrictive because then, they cannot travel to sites to inspect projects and listen to the common Mwananchi.
“Mr Speaker, can you believe we do not have funds as the public accounts committee to even go to Dandora Stadium here in Nairobi or even Toi Market?” the senator quipped.
Calling out Parliament for not having their priorities right, Cherargei revealed that he had written through the office of the speaker to request dividends but that has not been achieved yet.
This, he says, would enable the Senate to carry out its oversight duties smoothly without any financial restrictions.
Opulence in the nation’s Parliament buildings has often been called out but it keeps happening even though several politicians have often campaigned against it.
Just a week ago, the Nairobi County Government obtained a Ksh33 million gold-plated mace, a move that was received with a lot of uproar from both Nairobi residents and a section of the senate.
The National Assembly, which was vandalised during the Gen Z protests of June 25, has also undergone renovations but the cost accrued is yet to be acknowledged.
