Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa has dismissed reports of misuse of funds in the county as misleading.
Barasa said that the reported use of Sh521 million in hospitality is not a reflection of what the county government has spent according to the county records.
He said the figure is the total amount of various costs including what the county assembly spent and the amounts spent in other utilities like water, electricity and other costs like transportation and fuel.
The governor noted that the county executive spent Sh290million with the county assembly spending Sh46.7million in hospitality totaling to Sh336.7million all costs included in the Sh521million.
The Governor who was responding to the report on the county’s extravagance said the county government spent Sh58.7million on water and electricity bills and Sh125.3 million in the general supplies.
“So the total amount for hospitality, if it was supposed to be properly reported, is actually Sh290 million for the county executive and Sh46.7 million for the county assembly totaling to Sh336.7 million,” he added.
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The governor however said that Kakamega County has the largest number of staff at almost 10 000 which is one of the biggest cost drivers.
He noted the county’s vast administrative structure which comprises 12 sub counties, 60 wards and over 400 community areas drives the county expenses.
“The cost drivers are the number of sub counties, the number of staff and the number of community areas, in fact, in terms of classification, this is the largest rural county in Kenya. So administratively we are covering a lot of geographical space,” he added.
The Governor said the county administration has put in place austerity measures to reduce recurrent expenditure with more emphasis on development.
– By Moses Wekesa, KNA
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