A community social action group is heading to court to sue Kisii County Assembly for what it described as wanton use of public funds over the years.
Members of the Tabaka Affirmative Action say more than Sh 700 m might had been lost in various shady schemes with no measures taken to recover it.
“It is apparent that huge funds have been lost as captured in the Auditor General Reports. We will not be asking much when we are asking that these money must be recovered,” group chair Thomas Nyandoro said.
In a petition to the Assembly on Thursday, Nyandoro questions possible fraud that a whooping Sh 70 m was used for hospitality while an additional Sh 8000 was poured into the purchase of a tea flask in 2015/16 financial year.
In the similar fiscal year, the MCAs spent a staggering Sh 377 m on travelling alone.
Overall, the MCA’s average sitting allowances also shot up to Sh 154,000 per Ward Rep against recommendations by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission of 124, 800 ceiling.
Nyandoro said such abnormal expenditures are a reflection of growing sleaze and corruption in the regional government.
The activist further wants Kisii Governor James Ongwae to account Sh 7.2 billion the Auditor General had raised queries about.
In addition, he asked for investigations into Sh 3.8 m worth of “ghost latrines” which were said to have been sunk at Keroka and Ogembo towns in the previous fiscal year.
“The primary role of the County is service delivery. But we can’t see any of these services as graft takes centre stage. We are witnessing blatant wastage of the money that could help spur progress in the region,” Nyandoro said.
He said huge financial expenditures said to had been spent on infrastructure do not tally with work seen on the ground.
Nyandoro also says construction works at Gusii Stadium has taken years and does not justify the staggering Sh 150 million said to had poured into the exercise.
He said by not taking steps to recover the lost funds, the County executive and the County Assembly were undermining the constitution by denying mwananchi what rightfully belongs to them.
“Good governance provides effective service delivery that is free from of abuse and corruption which gives priority to human right based approaches which supports the rule of law which the respondents have violated,” he said.