[Kisii Governor James Ongwae in a past event. He has challenged his opponents to table their development score cards ahead of August polls. Photo/Hivisasa.com]
Kisii County Governor James Ongwae has asked his challengers to show what they have done for the region’s residents.He urged voters to carefully evaluate the development score card of governorship aspirants in the county in the run-up to the general elections.The governor was speaking in Bobasi, the home constituency of his closest challenger, Jubilee’s Senator Chris Obure.In an apparent dig at his Jubilee rival, Governor Ongwae said he had only been in office for four years compared to some of his challengers who had served as elected leaders for more than forty years. Speaking at Ogembo during the funeral of his chief of staff Mr Henry Nyanchoka’s mother, he said the electorate should judge his performance as an elected leader over the last four years.“I have only been in office as an elected leaders for four years. Some of my opponents have served for over forty years. Before you line up on August 8 to vote, carefully examine their development record compared to mine and then make a wise choice, said Governor Ongwae.He expressed confidence in retaining his seat, saying his development record was unparalleled in the region.“Before I assumed office, we did not have ambulatory services, a Sh 240 m bursary fund for our children, street lights, ECD classes in our public schools, modern cancer diagnostic equipment, dialysis machines in our referral hospitals and all-weather roads in our wards. All these projects were successfully completed during my term of office, making my records unparalleled in the region,” he said.Governor Ongwae accused his detractors of engaging in propaganda and falsehoods, saying they had nothing to offer in terms of a genuine development agenda for the people.“These people are just interested in making false accusations and moving around in so-called alliances purely aimed at taking power without a comprehensive development agenda. What have some of these leaders done in the decades they have been in office?” wondered the governor.He said he was one of the few leaders who had chosen to stick With ODM in the county as most sitting MPs jumped ship, saying that the voters had rewarded his faith in the party at the Nyacheki Ward by-elections.“The Bobasi people showed the world that they were true believers in democracy by refusing to be swayed by handouts in I am very impressed by the people in this constituency since they said no to handouts dished out by aspirants and elected the ODM candidate by an overwhelming margin,” said the governor.He promised to ensure that his development pledges were fulfilled, saying they had been hampered by underfunding from the national government.“We could have completed a number of other projects a long time ago, but due to delays from the national government in disbursing funds meant to finance our budget, a number of them have delayed. I however commit myself to completing them as soon as funds become available,” said Governor Ongwae.He said the 17 cadres of medical staff in the county who have been on strike had agreed to go back to work after their allowances were paid.“We had successful negotiations with medical staff who are now back on duty after their allowances were paid. Our people have nothing to worry about as far as provision of service in our health facilities is concerned,” he said.