West Pokot spends Ksh 50 million on three markets

Residents of West Pokot County have warned their Governor over what they termed as grand corruption over the reports indicating that the county spent more than 50 million to construct three markets.

The three markets built in Kacheliba, Orolwa and Kodich had received Ksh 7 million each as initial allocation but two months down the line the figure initially quoted in the bill of quantity had appreciated to Ksh 15 million each, a figure the locals are disputing.

They argued that if one classroom can be built for less than a million shillings then the amount used to construct each market should exceed Ksh 2 million.

They further noted that this was one way of embezzling funds claiming the county government should have consulted the locals before establishment of the projects.

The Orolwa market raised a storm as one of the locals claimed that it is built on her piece of land.

The locals have threatened to hold demonstrations if the county government does not come out to shed light on the issue.

Governor’s political adviser John Lodinyo confirmed that there was massive corruption in construction of the markets and blamed his boss, Governor Simon Kachapin, for not taking action on the corrupt officers even after he was advised to do so.

Lodinyo said the scandal is similar to Bungoma’s wheelbarrow scam and called upon anti corruption agents to initiate proper investigation over the same saying West Pokot County might have lost more than Ksh 40 million.

This comes as the members of the county assembly distanced themselves from the dealings saying their efforts to reach the Governor address the matter were fruitless.

West Pokot County Assembly Speaker Robert Katina and chair for the Budget Committee Peter Lokor said that they had petitioned the executive over the inflation but all has been in vain adding that they had resorted to stopping the payment of the projects.

Early this week, Governor Kachapin threatened to eject journalists who will cover any negative issue about his government after being asked to