COUNTY Assemblies will never beg for cash from governors under my leadership-Kalonzo

 Former Vice President and Wiper Democratic Movement leader Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka today addressed the County Assembly plenary sitting as a visiting dignitary.

On strengthening devolution, Kalonzo pledged to champion for the formation of the Ward Development Fund to actualise the dream of devolving resources to the basic unit of development. He said this is a kitty that would guarantee meaningful development at the grassroots level.

The former VP also promised to initiate the process of making County Assemblies independent from County Executives, observing that this autonomy would enable MCAs to conduct proper oversight on County Governments without the fear of being gagged by Governors.

He said County Assemblies that were cash starved by the County Executives could not unearth mega corruption scandals and were forced to beg for funds from Governors in order to remain operational. Kalonzo said County Assemblies should get funding straight from the National Treasury.

Still on graft, Kalonzo said he would never defend any public officer found guilty of corruption when he takes power as the fifth President of the Republic of Kenya. He swore that every tainted government officer would carry their own cross despite their proximity top leaders.

Speaking at the County Assembly Chambers as the first ever visiting dignitary to address the August House, the former VP revealed that he was alive to the plight of residents of the Mwea Settlement Scheme and said he would intervene to see the emotive land squabbles settled with finality.

Tourist attraction

In the same breath, Kalonzo also noted that Embu County’s Mwea and Mt. Kenya game reserves needed revamping to attract more tourists and consequently earn the County Government higher revenue for implementation of development projects.

The presidential hopeful at the same time spoke of reviving the agricultural sector by establishing factories to add value to agricultural products and industries to manufacture agricultural based products in each of the 47 counties.

In addition, Kalonzo reiterated his commitment to jumpstart the economy by cutting taxation by 50 per cent. He pointed out that multinational companies were avoiding Kenya because the cost of doing business was too high due to high taxation, high cost of fuel, power and labour.

Kalonzo also condemned political intolerance and violence saying every politician ought to be free to campaign in any part of the country. He termed incidences of politically instigated chaos were retrogressive and needed to be condemned with the strongest terms.

He said he was ready to work with National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi of the Democratic Party and Devolution Empowerment Party’s former Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti and Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi to form a formidable alliance as Eastern Kenya political luminaries.

STORY By MWINGI TIMES CORRESPONDENT, EDITED By MUSYOKA NGUI