It is unreasonable for the County Government to hold onto the Covid-19 relief funds while thousands of deserving families continue to sleep hungry.
The sentiments were shared by the Nakuru County Senator who felt that the county government of Nakuru was taking unnecessarily long to distribute food to cushion those hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Posting on her Facebook page, Senator Susan Kihika wondered why seven weeks down the line, the county was yet to reach the vulnerable. A supplementally budget totalling 650 Million was passed at the County Assembly on April 8 this year.
“It has been almost two months since the Nakuru County Assembly passed the supplementary budget towards dealing with Covid-19,” wrote the senator.
“Unfortunately, seven weeks later, the county government is still holding onto the funds,” she added.
In the supplementary budget, 20 million was set aside as an emergency kitty while 30 million went to the Governor’s office. Another 250 million was to be shared between the 55 wards. Some wards were to get 3.7 million each while the rest would get 5.2 million. A committee to identify the most deserving and oversee the distribution was formed in each ward. However, even the ward committees have been in the dark as to the progress of the exercise.
“The money was to be used to cushion the most vulnerable in these difficult times. The ward committees did their part identifying the intended beneficiaries and am aware they have since been waiting to ensure the help gets to the intended families,” said the senator expressing the frustration of the committee members.
“For whatever reason, it is unreasonable and inhuman to hold onto such funds when thousands of families continue to sleep hungry,” the Senator said.
Governor jolted into action on Covid-19 relief
Interesting, the office of the governor has since moved with speed to make efforts towards rectifying the same. Almost immediately after the Senator’s post, the county released a video of the governor apparently launching relief food. He said the food was to be shared among 2000 families in Menengai East Ward in Nakuru East Ward. It was not clear whether it was from the Governor’s 30 million relief kitty or from the 250 million ward kitty.
At the passing of the supplementary budget, the MCAs had suggested for the procurement of the relief food to be done at the ward level. This would not only have greatly empowered the local communities but would also have hugely eased the logistics of getting the food to the beneficiaries.
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