Mandago suffers another blow

Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago has been dealt a blow in his second term in which he is eying to cement his legacy.

This is after MCAs voted to compel Mandago to assent o a controversial funds sharing law in order or them to control 40 per cent of development funds.

Mandago had refused to assent to the Equitable Ward Development Bill 2019, which allows MCAs to control Sh1.5 billion, out of the Sh4 billion development funds.

The MCAs want each of the 30 wards to get an equal Sh43 million for development projects every year.

Initially, the county boss returned the bill to the assembly with a memorandum offering 15 per cent to the ward reps but the MCAs instead rejected the offer and voted almost unanimously for the Bill, which will be returned to the governor for the second time.

Mandago is required to sign the bill into law within seven days failure to which it will automatically become law.

“We will not allow the executive to re-write our own bill and offer us what we did not ask for. We want the bill signed as it is,” said MCA Jonathan Ng’etich, chairman of the budget committee at the assembly.

Ngetich said Mandago’s offer of 15 per cent would not make any difference in terms of economic growth in the wards.

Previously, Mandago’s executive has been controlling the entire county budget, deciding which projects to finance in the wards.

But the MCAs felt some wards were sidelined in the sharing of county funds and projects.-Additional information (The Star)