The Senate has put on notice Nakuru County government over the deteriorating revenue collection that has dropped by a whopping Ksh 2 billion.
The Senate said that it would be investigating the drop from Ksh 3.6 billion to Ksh 1.6 billion since the new government came into power amid reports of graft and misuse of public funds.
This came as Senators warned that failure by the executive in the county to respect court orders in regard to the on-going War Memorial Hospital saga was a recipe for chaos.
This emerged when the Senate Liaison Committee that brings together all chairmen of various committees converged in Sawela Lodge in Naivasha for a two day retreat.
According to the Chair of the Committee Mohammed Chute, the drop in revenue collection in the county was alarming and needed further investigations.
The Marsabit Senator said that the Senate would do its oversight role establishing how the revenue collection dropped in a span of one year.
“We are deeply concerned by the sharp drop in revenue collection in Nakuru and we shall definitely do our role of oversight by establishing where the problem is,” he said.
Chute revisited the saga around War Memorial Hospital noting that failure by the county to obey court orders was setting a bad precedent.
He accused the County Assembly of going to bed with the Executive and failing in its oversight mandate leading to the current crisis.
“If we had ten other counties that decided to ignore court orders, this country could go the Somali way and it’s time we nipped this at the bud,” he said.
This was echoed by the Deputy majority leader in the Senate Tabitha Keroche who called for a review on how the revenue collection had dropped in a short period.
The Nakuru Senator trained her guns on the county assembly noting that it had failed in its duty of oversight leading to the current crisis in the county.
“Am petitioning the Senate to move with haste and investigate how revenue collection dropped from Ksh 3.6B to Ksh 1.6B as our MCAs have gone to bed with the Executive,” she said.
On the hospital saga, she said that over 50 patients whose medical cover was under the facility were stranded with nowhere to go.
She termed the on-going occupation of the hospital by the county against a court order as inhumane and illegal while calling on the Senate committees on land and health to intervene.
“The only hope for residents of Nakuru and tens of dialysis patients lies with the Senate as the executive and police have refused to abide by court orders,” she said.
Keroche, who has been vocal on the issue, noted that the protracted dispute was causing families and patients’ untold suffering and eroding investors’ confidence.
“The raid and continued ignorance of court orders has caused fear and anxiety among investors who are fleeing the county in hordes,” she said.
On the workshop, Bomet Senator Hillary Sigei said that there were many bills pending in the Senate adding that all was set as the House resumed its sittings.
“This is going to be one of the busiest sessions for Senators and we should plan and set our targets so that we can deal with bills on our tables,” he said.
Silas Mwiti
