Mutua suspends 2 ministers over graft, reshuffles county Govt

Mutua suspends 2 ministers over graft, reshuffles county Govt

Two Machakos County Ministers, Engineer Francis Maliti (Water), and Larry Wambua (Public Services), have been sent home on a 3-month compulsory leave by Governor Alfred Mutua.

Stating that the changes were brought about by reports of graft in the county government, Mutua announced a major shakeup that affected numerous ministries including Energy, Tourism, and Roads amongst other dockets.

The Machakos Governor said corruption had slowed down growth and prosperity of the county, adding that some staff members were demanding kickbacks before payments were made. The irate governor also reported that some officials were even stealing pipes meant for irrigation schemes.

To curb the vice, Mutua said his government has partnered with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to deal with corruption cases.

The Governor gave a stern warning to corrupt officials that their days were numbered and those implicated will face the full force of the law: “I will not tolerate graft in my government. If you want to be corrupt, move away from Machakos.”

Mutua appointed Grace Munguti as the acting County Secretary to replace Francis Mwaka who is facing court charges related to abuse of office.

Decentralized Units Minister, Kioko Wa Luka, will act as the Water Minister while Education Minister, Hellen Kiilu, will act as the Public Services Minister.

Sunil Dhall has been moved from Trade to head Energy, while Faith Wathome (Tourism) has been appointed in the Garbage Collection docket.

The Governor also reassigned four Chief Officers in the reshuffle.  Eng. Morris Aluanga was shifted to Special Programmes from Roads, Nicholas Makau from Irrigation to Cooperatives and Catherine Nzila from Decentralized Units to the Office of the Governor. Eng. Julius Muigai was also appointed to be the acting Chief Officer of Roads.

Additionally, Mutua has also appointed a task-force to investigate the workings of the Machakos and Mavoko water Companies in a bid to study and recommend ways to end the perennial water shortage in Athi River, Syokimau and Mlolongo.

The team was given 10 days, to finalize its mandate and table its report before the County Executive.

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