An activist in Kisumu County on Tuesday expressed anger at the Members of Kisumu County Assembly for failing to show up for Monday’s World Aids Day ceremony.
Paul Ouma, a person living with HIV, said the move is discouraging, adding that the MCAs who are the legislative wing of the county are not taking their work seriously.
Ouma said that by skipping the event that was held at the Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground at the heart of Kisumu, the MCAs insinuated that they are not interested in the plight of local wananchi.
The residents said the ward reps are just well known for serving their own interests while ignoring those that benefit the general public.
“It is so sad that our MCAs missed to come in this big event. They are just concerned with persistent wrangles in the assembly at the expense of service,” he said.
However a section of the MCAs defended their decision to not to attend the event.
Nominated representative Farida Salim said up to Friday last week, they had not received official communication and invitation from the organisers.
“Personally, I even called to ask what arrangements were in place. It seemed like our presence was not needed and so we carried on with other duties,” she said.
The Kenya Aids Indicator Survey shows that Kisumu County has a HIV prevalence rate of 19.1 percent, which almost triples the national rate of 7 percent.
The celebrations were held yesterday where Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma encouraged locals to change their sexual behaviour or risk losing more lives.