By Jabali Digital
Kenyans have been urged to deliberately and consistently champion the fight against corruption, as the best bet toward pushing for better service delivery.
During a media interview on the sidelines of a Kakamega county stakeholders roundtable engagement on public finance management at a Kisumu hotel on Thursday, Transparency International Kenya’s Lilian Gathua said the onus is on Kenyans of all walks of life to unite in the fight against corruption as a precursor to better service delivery.
“There are many ways to do this. Do not participate in corruption, when you experience it, report to relevant authorities like EACC and the like, but also think about electing leaders of integrity. I know that elections are coming next year,” said Lilian.
Holding leaders to account, Lilian said, is another way of ensuring that services trickle down to the grassroots for the betterment of the society.
“Ask your MCA questions, ask you MP questions, write a letter to your leaders. Keep them on their toes and hold them accountable.”
Transparency International Kenya is implementing the strengthening capacities of local civil society to fight corruption: Tupigane na Ufisadi (TUNU) project, with a view of advocating for good governance and social accountability.
“This forum is important because it actually convenes duty bearers from both the executive and county assembly to discuss key issues pertaining to public finance management in Kakamega county,” said Lilian, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
With the four-year project ending in 2027, stakeholders – both from the executive and the county assembly conceded that delivery of public services is still hampered by stalled projects, lack of enough funds and to some extent, misuse of public funds, among other challenges.
According to Kevin Mahelo, chairman, Kakamega County Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC), failure to meet on source revenue (OSR) targets in the long run, greatly affects service delivery.
“When we don’t meet our targets, then some projects are not funded. So, the county executive should be realistic in their budgeting especially on the issue of on source revenue,” he advised, with his sentiments getting the backing of Gildon Shiosho, chairman of the budget committee in the Kakamega County Assembly.
Shiosho called for the surcharging of members of the executive who deliberately or otherwise, fail to act on audit reports from the Assembly, the Senate, Controller of Budget and Auditor General, equating them to stumbling blocks in the county’s development initiatives.
“When we see the surcharging happening, then as MCAs we will have a feeling that we are working,” he said.
The executive, led by Dimina Chikamai, Chief Officer financial management noted that “something is happening” as far as implementation of audit reports is concerned.
“It is very clear that we do respond to audit queries. We do implement what the auditors say. One of the areas is Bukhungu stadium. As we speak, Bukhungu stadium is on course, why? because the auditors came in and they made a recommendation that we need to compete Bukhungu stadium. As we speak, the work is ongoing,” she said.
Edward Wambani, chairman of the Kakamega County Civil Society Network on his part urged the county assembly and the executive to collaborate in ensuring top notch service delivery to locals.
