Nyamira Senator Okongo Omogeni has fingered County Governor Amos Nyaribo for mismanaging the devolved unit.
He consequently invited the Ethics and Anti-corruption detectives to probe ‘ghost projects and glaring discrepancies in public funds expenditure’ by the County boss.
“For instance, I have seen reports of boreholes dug in various parts of the County that truly are non-existent.
” This is why I always push for probity in expenditure so that Mwananchi does not lose their money unnecessarily,” Omogeni told journalists in Borabu on Sunday.
Senator Omogeni is said to be among those spoiling for the Nyamira Governorship in 2027.
He further claimed that some Narigp ( National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project) funds had yet to be disbursed to the farmers across the county by the governor.
NARIGP is a Government project implemented through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Fisheries and Irrigation (MoALF&I), State Department for Crop Development (SDCD), with funding support from the World Bank.
Omogeni said though Governor Nyaribo claims on paper to have spent the donor cash on the farmers most farmers were still crying foul.
He also took issue with what he termed as a political witch hunt and arbitrary sacking of some county staff to accommodate his cronies.
Omogeni claimed already some workers have already reported being demoted and others denied promotions by the County boss.
” You cannot work effectively by fighting staff left right and center All the staff should be respected and accorded their space to work because they are civil servants who by law are apolitical,” Senator Omogeni said.
The governor, he added, was only keen on rewarding his cronies at the detriment of leaving a legacy.
” The people you’re fighting are our children. You can’t be sacking to replace them with cronies. They have families and need money just like you,” Omogeni told Nyaribo.
Any Governor stepping into office, said Omogeni should be ready to work with staff he finds in office.
” This issue of victimizing staff should stop. No Governor doing so at the moment is registering any meaningful development in their backyard,” he said.
On Ecde teachers, Omogeni said it was shameful that Nyamira was paying its teachers as low as Sh 12 000 when it’s neighbour Kisii was paying Sh28000.
” He can just travel by road to Kisii and benchmark how things are done, “the Senator said.
He also asked the governor to fast-track the payments of health promoters.
The health staff have gone without their monthly stipends for more than a year now.
Omogeni also promised to champion improved tea bonus earnings for Nyamira farmers.
He said the earnings this year were ‘gravely low’