I will not name the Jerrican donors, Gov. Wangamati

Bungoma County Governor Wycliffe Wafula Wangamati has come out to vehemently refute the now popular media reports that his government procured 600, 20ltrs Jerricans at Sh10,000 each totaling Sh6M from #Covid19 county funds.
Speaking at the Governor’s Headquarter in Bungoma, the County Boss evidently rubbished the claims making rounds that his government stole money meant for helping the helpless Bungoma community fight CoronaVirus pandemic by fraudulently inflating 600, 20ltrs jerrican prices. He further Insisted that the Jerricans were never purchased as reported but donated by a group of unnamed well wishers.
Addressing the media on 11th/April/2020, Mr. Wangamati stated that:

“Let it be known that we don’t have 600 Jerrycans out there. We have 368 which were donated on a few markets and other public places.” He said
The fraud claim, which has been widely reported has escalated accountability questions over the use of public funds in Bungoma. The matter is almost progressively threatening to place the popular governor on a political preserve cue.

COUNTY ASSEMBLY OF BUNGOMA County Assembly of Bungoma quickly issued a statement concerning the now nerve stretching “Scandal” with directives on the legal steps the County assembly committee is set up to follow so as to bring out the truth:

“The attention of the County Assembly of Bungoma is drawn to media reports being circulated on the alleged misappropriation of funds meant for sensitization of the public on COVID 19. We wish to state as follows:
⦁ We have read stories in the media suggesting that the Hon. Speaker and the Clerk have stood in the way of the Health committee discharging its mandate. Nothing can be far from the truth.
⦁ The Hon. Speaker received and allowed a request by the committee to hold sessions to interrogate the alleged embezzlement of funds meant for sensitization on Covid- 19. The Clerk recalled County Assembly staff who form the secretariat to enable the committee carryout its mandate.
⦁ The sittings failed to kick off on the first day of the committee sittings after Hon. Members of the committee disagreed on modalities of summoning and interrogating the witnesses. Many witnesses expressed their unwillingness to appear before the committee especially at this time when the government discouraged gatherings and encouraged people to work from home.
⦁ The committee sittings were consequently stopped to allow for consultations and lay modalities on how the interrogations were to proceed.
⦁ This has since been resolved and the County Assembly committee on Health has been summoned to convene from Tuesday 14th April, 2020 to interrogate the matter and come up with a report.
⦁ The sittings will be held in line with the government directives on social distancing, wearing of face masks and all other government protocols so far outlined. Those expected to attend the interrogations must ensure they comply with all the government protocols on Covid-19.
⦁ The venue of the meeting which shall be at the County Assembly shall be disinfected ahead of the committee sittings.” Read part of the press statement.

The statement also stated that the assembly will not allow partisanship or any suspected individuals to go scot-free if found guilty.
“The County Assembly of Bungoma will never negotiate or compromise on its cardinal roles of Oversight, Representation and Legislation. We shall always be fair and impartial in discharging this mandate without fear of favor and any public official who misuses public funds is an enemy of the people of Bungoma, and as a House of representatives we shall not hesitate to recommend sanctions however punitive they may seem. This has been demonstrated in the past.” It read.

Two days ago, Maisha TV reported about the emerging alleged scandal of Sh6.8M. Documents seen by our news-desk showed that the County Government of Bungoma through the Disaster Respond Unit had borrowed more than Sh6.98 million from the Bungoma County Referral Hospital to purchase Covid19 equipment as well as fund other services to curb spread of the pandemic.
While only some documents showed Sh6.98M, the governor admitted that they borrowed Sh11M. Many have questioned the borrowing of Sh 11M from Bungoma Referral Hospital instead of using the Sh100M designated for emergencies and given to the county for the fiscal YR2019|2020 reserved for use for such occurrence as Covid19.
Mr. Wangamati Explained in his statement:
“As a matter of fact and procedure, in the year 2019/2020, we allocated in our budget Sh100 million towards the Emergency Fund. Up to until the outbreak of the pandemic in Kenya in March, NOT a penny of the Sh100 million Emergency Fund had been spent.

Like all other Counties, we in Bungoma quickly needed a Covid-19 Isolation Ward and other attendant equipment and supplies because then, nobody knew when we shall have our own first case of Covid-19.

This is why as a County we requisitioned the Controller of Budget to allow us access part of the Sh100 million Emergency Fund to start immediate preparations. While we waited for this clearance and sanction, which often takes time, the Emergency Fund borrowed Sh11 million from Bungoma County Referral Hospital. It should be noted that this is money the hospital was not going to use immediately.” He said.

Some members of the county assembly have dismissed the governor’s statement calling for a transparent and elaborate breakdown of the funds used.

“As an assembly we are surprised that the Governor says the trending jerrycans are donations yet we are not told who donated and the value and what part of the 11.9M was used. He must come to the assembly and explain to the committee? We have the minutes and it shows that they purchased 20 liter tapped jerrycans, we are not speaking from the streets” said the MCAs led by Lwandanyi Ward representative Tony Barasa”

Mr. Wangamati insisted that his government set up the kitty for 9 reasons,

1. Setting up of the Webuye Isolation Centre.
2. Training of health workers including doctors, nurses.
3. Catering for special Covid-19 allowance to healthcare workers in Isolation Centre.
4. A grant to Nzowasco to fix some of its damaged system
5. Public awareness and sensitization meetings in conjunction with the Kenya Red Cross.
6. Purchase of Personal Protective Equipment for the health workers.
7. Fumigation of all public places
8. Making of face masks for Boda Boda and business people on all markets (ongoing).
9. Setting up quarantine areas across the County.
   

The governor has termed the whole saga as a probable political move orchestrated by his opponents meant to settle old meaningless political scores.

When asked to give names of the jerrican donors during the presser, the governor declined.

“No, i will not say their names here, you even know them.” He said