Nyamira county assembly speaker has defended area MCA’s in their bid to be custodians of the proposed Community Empowerment Fund which was recently approved by controller of Budget with a few amendments suggested by the budget’s office.
It has taken the county MCAs 3 yrs to convince the controller of Budget on initiating a Ward Development Kitty, a request that was initially dismissed by the Controller of Budget’s office who demanded that the mover of the motion amend certain controversial clauses to conform to the constitution.
However, Ms Agnes Odhiambo recently approved the kitty which was dubbed by Gesima MCA (Ken Atuti the originator of the bill) as Ward Empowerment Fund and suggested that MCAs to be excluded from being managers of the fund.
On Tuesday in his office, Speaker Joash Nyamoko defended the decision by MCAs to stick to their resolution that they remain custodians of the kitty.
“Personally, I don’t see the reason why MCAs should not take charge of the kitty. They have fought hard for it basically for the interest of development at grassroots and I am sure they will prudently manage the kitty,” he said.
Nyamoko said the presence of MCAs will also help the financial managers who will be managing the kitty to work for people without prejudices.
“MCAs are in touch with people and I think when they take charge, it will be even easier to managers in choosing and allocating finances to local projects without discrimination,” he added.
Nyamoko challenged the Members of County Assembly to ensure that people are served adequately thorough the kitty.
“What is now important, the MCAs to ensure that they manage the kitty prudently and use it for intended purposes. That’s why they should be custodians so that it’s easier to hold them accountable. Sh5 m per ward is a lot of money that can change lives at grassroots,” he added.