Deputy Senate speaker Kathuri Murungi is opposed to the Mechanical Transport Fund (MTF) building roads in Meru, saying the projects would lead to capital flight from county coffers.
Kathuri said it did not make sense for money to be allocated to the devolved unit only to have the same sent back to the national government.
The MTF is based at the Transport and Infrastructure ministry under the Roads department and enters into agreement with county governments on supply and maintenance of road construction equipment.
“What is the point in lobbying for funds to be transferred to the county government only for it to be taken back to Treasury? This is against the spirit of devolution and disservice to our people,” the Meru senator told members of the Meru Press Club.
On December 13, governor Kawira Mwangaza signed an agreement with MTF and injected Sh531 million into the fund to undertake roads projects dubbed ‘Mwangaza Barabarani’.
But Kathuri concurred with members of the county assembly who had earlier asked the governor to sever links with MTF.
“Contractors don’t work for themselves and in isolation. Before a project is handed over engineers have to inspect it and endorse the works. Does it mean that the governor does not have confidence in her own administration? We need to build local capacity both in government and private sector,” Kathuri said.
“In 2014 as Imenti South MP we contracted MTF but it did not deliver as expected. The works are done in terms of hours spent and it is difficult to monitor the equipment at all times,” he added.
By transferring an initial Sh531 million to MTF, the governor defied MCAs who on December 5, passed a motion urging her to cease any dealings with MTF and award tenders to local contractors.
Mwangaza however said her administration would not allow contractors to repair roads, accusing them of doing shoddy work and engaging in corruption.
“Last financial year we paid contractors Sh225 million and they did 295 kilometres while MTF opened up over 200 kilometres using Sh90 million.
Clearly, we can all see that the MTF is doing more roads with less funds,” she said, adding that while Sh195 would be used to tarmack roads, Sh336 million would be spent on grading existing ones.
In opposing MTF’s role in county projects, the MCAs claimed the programme was a conduit through which money was lost since once transferred to their accounts some of it was embezzled.
“We have evidence that money is going into the pockets of individuals who collude with MTF officials. The governor is now on her own and we wait to see how an institution without enough capacity will build our roads,” said Abogeta West MCA Dennis Kiogora.
