Kakamega County, once the preferred destination for benchmarking by counties on how devolution works, is now on its deathbed and faces the risk of reverting to factory settings.
The town that sparkled as the fastest-growing town in the former Western province by 2017 is now a pale shadow of its former self and a morphing den of corruption.
Blocked drainages with kiosks littering even in front of shops, a dwindling revenue collection base from own sources due to deliberate leakages, a lack of drugs in health facilities, grounded vehicles, and failure to remit statutory deductions, just to mention a few, are now the order of the day.
All flagship projects initiated by the previous governor, which would have defined the county as the leader in implementing decentralized government, have stalled. Looting takes center stage, so there are no new ones.
The projects include the Ksh 6 billion Kakamega County Teaching and Referral Hospital, the Bukhungu Stadium upgrade, the Ksh 150 million Malava Milk Processing Plant, Shamakhubu Level 5 Hospital, and the Mandala Tea Factory in Shinyalu sub-county.
Oparanya selected the current governor as his preferred successor, and voters accepted him.
The Kakamega County administration’s in-depth analysis reveals that cartels have seized the county.
One woman, Dr. June Mwajuma, the county’s finance chief officer, is directly responsible for Kakamega County’s downward spiral. Despite having no formal accounting or finance training, there rampant misuse of resources.
With a single directive, Mwajuma has taken control of the county’s finances: recover funds from previous campaigns and amass enough to bribe voters in 2027.
She is reportedly responsible for the medical drug supply scandals that have rocked the health department and crippled services throughout the county.
This cabal has enlisted dubious drug suppliers to act as conduits for the theft of public funds.
These conspirators are supplying drugs in packages that are half-empty to outpost health facilities, which cannot satisfy the needs of residents who visit outpost facilities seeking services; hence, the facilities are perpetually out of stock.
This implies that individuals end up with half or more of the county’s expenditure on drugs and non-pharmaceuticals in their pockets.
Health providers frequently face accusations of stealing drugs and non-pharmaceuticals from their respective facilities, while the public often complains about a shortage of essential medicine and emergency drugs, all of which are part of an elaborate thieving plot.
At one point, the suppliers delivered drugs worth millions to the county general hospital.
However, the medical superintendent, Boniface Nyumbile, declined to receive the consignment because he had not been involved in the requisition to ensure purchase on a need basis.
Later, the Medical Services Chief Officer would force him to resign for refusing to play ball.
According to rumours, the county’s Chief Officer will act on behalf of the First Lady, whose husband has given control of the health department to the syndicate.
Trucks carted away the drugs at night and delivered them to private chemists in town three days later.
Since then, we have received hints that the cartel has recruited private chemists as far as Busia County to sell the drugs purchased with public funds and turn over the proceeds.
The cartel has taken over contracts at the county through proxy companies, including the renovation of the two-year-old governor’s office earlier this year at a cost of over Ksh 30 million without following procurement procedures.
“There was no structural evaluation report by a qualified engineer that would eventually lead to the condemnation of the office before the public works chief officer could make a case for cabinet approval, after which the procurement process could begin,” a senior county staff member said in confidence.
“After the irregular tender award, the Governor himself literally ordered the Head of Procurement to work backward.”
“We still don’t know how they will advertise the tender, which legally requires publication in at least two daily newspapers with a nationwide readership.” An accountant, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that Ksh 30 million is not a small sum, considering this should be an open tender.
This cartel was also responsible for purchasing furniture worth Ksh 12 million for the governor’s office without following procurement procedures.
In fact, Mwajuma did the procurement herself, including laying a blue carpet instead of a red one in the office.
To this end, the Deputy Head of Procurement takes all procurement files home for her ‘Boss’ to decide who to give what contract.
All the schemes have displaced the Head of Procurement, turning him into a mere statistic while his deputy manages the operations, keeping the first family away from the office.
The second cartel includes ‘Deep State’ members Farouk Kibet, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, and a journalist who is an in-law of the governor.
This cabal was responsible for providing fake, subsidised fertiliser to farmers in Kakamega County.
It often operates using companies associated with the journalist, who has become a wheeler-dealer rather than a journalist and doubles as Farouk’s personal assistant.
In the third cartel, a group of chief officers are in charge of raising funds for the governor.
Every Friday, the four withdraw millions of shillings via a team of accountants.
This syndicate is reportedly responsible for the unexplained withdrawal of Ksh 600 million from the retention fees account left by the former regime.
This money belongs to contractors, but it remains unclear how the cash was withdrawn without reaching the owners, who are still pushing for its release.
This cartel is also allegedly responsible for the disappearance of Ksh 500 million allocated for the stalled Kakamega County Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The governor plans to hand over the hospital’s completion to the national government in order to cover the millions of missing people.
“You can imagine that money is withdrawn from the office of the governor’s vote without the knowledge of the chief officer in the governor’s office,” an accountant who declined to be named said.
According to sources, Kutekha will be replaced as the chief officer in the governor’s office by a legal officer, who is believed to be the governor’s sidekick and has been implicated in fleeing the water department through suspicious procurement deals.
Revenue collection from our own sources has decreased by over Ksh 200 million in the current financial year.
The appointment of dubious individuals to lead the county revenue agency, with instructions to embezzle funds and distribute them to the governor, is to blame for this.
Months have passed without contractors receiving payment, and their outstanding bills now total nearly a billion shillings.
Banks are now threatening to hold imminent auctions against those who fail to service their credit facilities.
Sources determined that only businesses connected to Mwajuma, Kasili, Farouk, and Sudi receive tenders and timely payments.
Sources say Farouk has become a frequent visitor to Barasa’s home.
@via Nyakundi.