Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja has made an appeal to President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve his county government to offer the devolved unit a fresh start.
He announced that he will undertake an exercise to collect signatures for his petition which he intends to take to the Head of State.
Samboja also asked the residents of the county to come out in large numbers and show solidarity to his quest to see the county dissolved.
Among the reasons the governor gave for his request were that the county assembly was working against his government thus making it tough for him to deliver development.
“It is therefore with a heavy heart, that I call upon every voter, to assist me to salvage our great county from our very own County Assembly members who have done everything possible, to stand on our way of development,” Samboja wrote on his Facebook page.
The governor complained that the County Assembly had failed to meet the timelines for the 2019/20 budget thus hindering development in the county.
He further stated that the County Assembly was demanding Ksh670 million (11.16 percent) of the county government’s Ksh 5,478,701,639 budget estimates for the Financial Year 2019/2020 instead of the prescribed maximum of 7 per cent of the estimates in each financial year.
The governor also revealed that the MCAs demanded Ksh41.6 million for each ward, which meant that the county government would be forced to disburse a whooping Ksh830 million to each ward.
“My fellow county citizens, this is 15 per cent of the total budget estimates, against what the law provides at a maximum of 3 per cent,” he continued.
Samboja also claimed that he was pained by the suffering of his electorate due to lack of drugs at the county’s dispensaries and hospitals after Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) stopped supplying drugs over a Ksh50 million debt that hasn't been paid due to lack of proper budgeting for the same.
He further noted that the greed in the County Assembly would only end up in an increase of the poverty levels in the county, rendering the delivery of his manifesto next to impossible.
The governor also claimed that the MCAs had hatched a plan to impeach him after he blocked their bid to award themselves the money, which included Ksh 500, 000 for nominated members if they supported the allocation.
“To ensure that their demands are met, plans are underway to table a motion for my impeachment and all County Executive Committee Members, should I stand my ground in the protection of the public resources,” the governor went on.
“The county government will not be able to launch new or complete any developments already commenced. My fellow county citizens, I once again call upon all of you to join hands with me and save ourselves from the County Assembly which has reached a resolve that our great county shall lag behind in development as we watch other neighboring counties flourish,” Governor Samboja concluded.
