A Kiambu man has blamed Governor Ferdinand Waititu for a debt of Ksh5,000 accumulated at his local groceries shop.
The man who is part of the recovering alcoholics programme initiated by the county government claims not to have received his daily Ksh400 wage for over 20 days.
The "Kaa Sober" initiative that was meant to rehabilitate alcoholics in the county by offering daily wage jobs is said to have run into debt amounting to Ksh40 Million.
5,000 participants in the programme on Monday staged protests demanding to be paid before they continue on the programme.
[caption caption="Kiambu Governor leads chiefs and Interior CS Fred Matiang'i pour out local brews in a war against alcoholism"]
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"We are not ready to go back to work unless we get our dues. This has been our only source of income since we quit our previous jobs.
"How do they expect us to continue working without pay? How do they expect us to survive?" Felistas Wanjiru, one of the disgruntled members of the programme stated.
The participants in the programme have been offering labour for menial tasks such as collecting garbage, unblocking drainage pipes and clearing bushes along roads.
Members of County Assembly (MCAs) who spoke to Daily Nation on condition of anonymity complained that the workers had resorted to camping outside their homes demanding to be paid.
County Executive Committee member for Finance Mburu Kang'ethe confirmed that the county government owed the 5,000 recovering alcoholics Ksh8,000 each.
He, however, explained that the delay has been caused by formalities that must be undertaken in transitioning from one financial year to the next.
"We have just closed a financial year and we are starting a new one and the systems have been stopped by the Treasury.
"It has been common practice that anything that has not been paid on or before June 29 is stopped until the new budgets and work plans are uploaded in the system," he explained.
[caption caption="Governor Ferdinand Waititu (centre) with county and national government officials soon after signing the Anti-Alcohol Bill into law on June 7, 2018"]
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