Kimilili Member of Parliament (MP) Didmus Barasa on Thursday, April 2, bought tonnes of foodstuff and other essential items to fulfill a promise he had made to his constituents.
A statement issued by his press team revealed that the legislator had foregone his state salary for a period of 4 months to enable him to see his pledge through.
"Didmus Barasa has honoured his promise of spending his accumulated salary of four months to purchase 200 bags of dry maize that had already been delivered at one of our stores in Kimilili," reads a section of the press release.
Currently, MPs take home Ksh710, 000 as basic salary and a number of allowances, meaning each member gets a minimum of Ksh1,378, 000.
This brings the 4-month cumulated figure saved foregone by the Kimilili legislator to Ksh5,512,000
The MP went also ordered an additional 200 bags of maize in anticipation of a spike in the demand of the commodity following the Covid-19 pandemic that has brought nations across the world to a standstill.
In line with this, the legislator also revealed that he had purchased and set aside resources to avail food packs consisting of 5Kg Unga, cooking oil, salt, and 1Kg sugar for an estimated 10,000 families in his constituency, adding that this was done just in case the national government decided to call for a lockdown over the Covid-19 outbreak in Kenya.
"This is within the spirit of selflessness that each of us needs to show as we combat this Corona pandemic," Didmus stated, going on to urge his fellow leaders to turn up and show their selflessness and generosity by sharing with the people they serve.
His latest move to shore up supplies within his constituency comes on the day Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced that the government would be enforcing stiffer measures in its bid to combat the spread of the virus across the country.
During his daily briefing held outside Afya House, CS Kagwe revealed that the total number of infected individuals within the country had jumped to 100 as of April 2.
"The situation in Kenya is not getting any better. It is not a joke, you don't have to wait to hear of the death of someone you know to believe the virus is real. This is a very serious threat to our lives and to our nation. The numbers will rise and rise exponentially," he warned.
