EMBU county executive on the spot over poor performance

Deputy Speaker Ibrahim Swaleh said it was disheartening to witness unwarranted loss of property to infernos breaking out in various parts of his Kirimari Ward and fire engines unable to extinguish the fires due to improper maintenance.

Speaking during a plenary sitting at the County Assembly, Swaleh noted that the County Government had been allocated KSh 8million for emergency response, yet the money was depleted and no disaster had been addressed satisfactorily.

The MCA also revealed that the Assembly had allocated close to KSh 4million for repair of a county fire engine, but lamented that the vehicle could barely drive to the sites where fires had consumed buildings, destroying property worth millions of shillings.

Swaleh demanded information as to why the County Firefighters had not managed to put out a single fire despite consuming millions of taxpayers’ funds. He added that it was unfair for his ward to be close to firefighting equipment then lose property after the machines failed.

Former Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Mucangi Mwariama acknowledged that there was a notable hiccup in implementation of Embu County annual budgets.

In the same vein, Nominated MCA Agnes Gakungugu asserted that Ward Reps would focus their attention on non-performing members of the County Executive Committee. She vowed that the Assembly would not recommend the renewal of the contracts of incompetent county officials.

Nginda MCA Maurice Macharia revealed that KSh 2million for streetlights within Embu town had been squandered. He said he would be calling for clarification on how the funds were utilised before another tranche of KSh 2million allocated for the same purpose in a supplementary budget is released.

Majority Leader Peter Murithi said that it was regretful for the dockets at the County Executive to close consecutive Financial Years without having exhausted their budgetary allocations for development projects. He said sterner oversight measures would be put in place to avoid slothfulness.

The leaders unanimously pledged to accord Governor Cecily Mbarire to deliver on her campaign promises to the people of Embu but restated the need to push top officers at the County Executive to put more efforts in absorbing funds in their respective portfolios.