41 Siaya MCAs To Be Grilled Over Sh8.2 Million Trip To Uganda: The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has summoned 41 members of the Siaya County Assembly over a trip they allegedly made to Uganda earlier on in the year.
The ward representatives are expected to present themselves at the commission’s Kisumu offices on Monday to help with investigations.
The trip cost the county government a whooping Sh8.2 million. The MCAs are also said to have received Sh200,000 each during the trip.
Speaking to a local daily, EACC spokesman Yassin Amaro on Tuesday said that the MCAs will be required to provide information that will show whether the trip really happened.
” It is early at this stage of investigations to summon the speaker. However, if in the course of our investigations it becomes necessary to summon him, we will ask him to avail himself,” Mr Amaro said.
In a letter dated July 31, the county assembly representatives will be required to furnish the commission with their travel documents.
“Kindly facilitate the individuals named here below to come to our offices in Kisumu on August 12, 2019. They are expected to carry copies of the original travel documents,” the letter reads in part.
In May, a Siaya based civil right group petitioned the EACC to investigate nepotism and corruption allegations in the Assembly.
According to the three petitioners; John Ouma, James Wanga and Irene Atieno under an umbrella body Siaya County Accountability Network (SCAN), MCAs were involved in dubious issues among them illegal hiring of interns.
The interns, the group said, are relatives and girlfriends of MCAs who are on the county payroll without any specific roles.
“These interns are related to certain MCAs others are girlfriends. We therefore want to know the budget for this internship programme, the policy guiding the internship programme in the Assembly and the level of proof of the trainings that the alleged interns are undergoing,” noted the petitioners in their letter.
Source-kahawatungu.com
