EDUCATION

Embu’s fishy land deal spurs hot debate at Assembly

BY JOEY KIMEU

County said to have secretly received Sh50.8 million refund of money in secretive land deal

A ward representative has exposed an alleged corrupt dealing where the Embu County Government is said to have secretly receive a Sh50.8 million refund of monies paid to two individuals to purchase a controversial parcel of land at the Mwea Settlement Scheme.

In 2017, the County Government was said to have irregularly allocated two parcels of land in Makima Ward to individuals at no cost.

The devolved government then bought the land back from the beneficiaries at a consolidated price of Sh60 million for the unapproved highly confidential purpose of establishing a luxury resort next to Masinga Dam.

Makima MCA Phillip Nzangi today said acquisition of land parcel numbers 4531 and 4045 through Njeru Ithiga and Company Advocates and from Njue and Company Advocates at Sh23 million and Sh7 million respectively has since been mysteriously reversed and part of the funds paid back to the county.

Speaking during a special sitting to consider the second supplementary budget for the 2018/2019 Financial Year, Nzangi expressed displeasure on the County Government’s decision to use the money to pave Ishiara and Runyenjes town streets instead of developing Makima ward; the original beneficiary.

The MCA stated that it would have been more prudent for the county to allocate the funds to the Mwea National Game Reserve, which had the capacity of generating revenue worth tens of millions of shillings every year instead of channelling it to towns away from where it was initially intended to be used.

Nzangi seemed to have stirred the Hornet’s nest by making the revelations after Evurore MCA Duncan Mbui furiously called for evidence that there was such a refund. Mbui confessed lack of knowledge of the matter and said the Assembly was also unaware of the undisclosed refund purportedly being used in his ward.

Several agitated MCAs sought the intervention of the Speaker on the issue, as Mbeti South MCA Murithi Kiura and his Ruguru Ngandori counterpart Muturi Mwombo were also quick to stand on points of order to enquire how the Makima MCA knew of the secret refund yet the Assembly had no document informing it of such a transaction.

But the Makima MCA wondered why the issue was sparking much excitement from certain MCAs, yet it was clear that the money that was doing cabro works in Ishiara and Runyenjes was not part of the initial 2018/2019 budget that was passed at the assembly. He declared the source of the funds questionable. He said this had opened grounds for future debate on the clandestine refund.

Speaker Josiah Thiriku sought to put the matter to rest by ordering Nzangi not to refer to matters that he could not prove by providing documents to the House. He confirmed that the County Assembly was not seized of any documents pertaining to the alleged refund. Speaker Thiriku therefore directed Nzangi to drop further reference to a secret refund.

However, an incensed Nzangi maintained that the money was deposited into the County Revenue Fund and directed his colleague MCAs to contact the Department of Finance and Economic Planning to get the finer details of the transaction. He said he would table the necessary documentation as evidence of the concealed deal. He stated that he was not crazy to make unfounded claims in the August House.