Kitui County Assembly is on the spot over an outrageous tender advert that appeared on the local dailies on Thursday that has left a section of taxpayers angry.
In the advert, that appeared on the Daily Nation, the assembly is seeking suppliers of a range of products and services for use by the assembly in the Financial Years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021.
Hawked-eyed citizens were quick to notice two items on Category D which lists catering goods the assembly seeks to be supplied with.
The items are Cigarettes & Tobacco and Wines & Spirits serialised as items number 45[D5] and 48[D8] respectively.
Interested applicants were directed to address their applications to the Clerk of the Assembly.
Netizens took to social media to question the need for the ‘luxury’ goods yet some of the Members of County Assembly(MCAs) have not fulfiled what they were elected to champion for in the House.
Kahawa Tungu reached out to the Assembly Majority Leader Peter Kilonzo who said he had little to comment about on the issue as it was not under his jurisdiction but that of the clerk of the assembly and the procuring department.
According to Kilonzo, he only came to be told of the advert yesterday after he received several calls from the members of the press.
Alarmed, he tried contacting the County Clerk without success as his calls went unanswered.
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He noted that he was not sure why the assembly was seeking the supply of the goods as it doesn’t have a canteen.
However, he divulged that the county is preparing for a Senate Mashinani session later in September and maybe the assembly was intending to treat their guests with the wines and cigarettes.
The County Governor Charity Ngilu is yet to comment on the issue.
Here are some of the reactions by netizens who saw the advert:
This is really SAD!!
Kitui County (@KituiCountyGovt) was recognized as a leader in the implementation of devolved #health and MCAs are seeking to prequalify suppliers for #cigarettes and #tobacco which are known to kill over 30,000 #Kenyans annually. @mamangilu @KenyaGovernors pic.twitter.com/CSyMyksTUw
— #TobaccoFreeKE (@TobaccoFree254) July 4, 2019
Pray for my county…
Our MCAs want a supply of beer and tobacco while the people of kitui have no access to clean water. pic.twitter.com/UhbeFrhu50— Patrick Safari (@patricksafariR) July 5, 2019
Even wines? These guys are jokers. The tender committee should have been disbanded by now.!
— Kipsfai (@kipsfai) July 5, 2019
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