THE HUDUMA NAMBA HITCH THAT SPELLS DOOM ON MBEERE SOUTH RESIDENTS

A registration glitch in the new ‘Huduma Namba’ Identity Card system may disadvantage Mbeere South constituents in resource allocation, Ward Representatives from the region have lamented.

Kiambere MCA Masters Mwaniki revealed that residents of the Mbeere South Sub- had been erroneously registered as hailing from the neighbouring Mbeere North. He said the anomaly had affected almost all inhabitants of the vast sub-county who had received the Huduma Card.

The MCA who is also the Leader of the Minority Party at the County Assembly of Embu at the same time faulted Mbeere South Member of National Assembly Geoffrey King’ang’i for remaining quiet and failing to address the issue. He said such a hitch disadvantaged an area already suffering effects of low populations.

Wondering whether there was political mischief behind the irregularity, Mwaniki noted that Mbeere North Parliamentarian Muriuki Njagagua had in the past pleaded with his constituents to actively procreate to rapidly increase the region’s population, to the extent of offering Sh2,000 stipends to parents for all new births.

Grave concern

In the same vein, Mavuria MCA Ngari Mbaka sought the direction of the Speaker on the matter, terming it as a grave concern for Mbeere South leaders who depend on the numbers forming the area’s electorate to negotiate for resources and push their development agenda for the semiarid sub-county.

Mbaka bemoaned the revelation that the Kenyan Identity Card would soon be decommissioned in favour of the Huduma Card, adding that Mbeere South residents would be at a loss in terms of quota system recruitments to the disciplined forces, Constitutional Commissions and resource allocation by the National Government.

The leaders who spoke during a County Assembly plenary sitting demanded to know from the relevant State Department, how the problem that they said was affecting a large part of Mbeere South’s adult population would be corrected to allay fears of the area being further marginalised, with their people enumerated as residents of Mbeere North.

Temporary Speaker Phillip Nzangi acknowledged that the inaccurate registration of Mbeere South residents in the Huduma Cards was a serious matter that needed urgent attention. He however observed that this was a National Government function that the County Assembly could not handle.

The Makima MCA advised the affected MCAs to caucus and seek a political solution to the concerning matter, pointing out that though it was a substantial hitch that deserved attention from area leaders, it was not possible for Ward Reps to handle it conclusively from their respective offices.

Story by MWINGI TIMES CORRESPONDENT