Deputy President William Ruto has come to Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu’s defence, telling critics off governors neck over the outrageous budget allocations in the county.
Speaking after Sunday service at All Saints Catholic Church Komothai Parish in Githunguri, Ruto said that matters concerning the national government should not be used against Waititu.
“Even though the President comes from Kiambu, the national budget is not done in Kiambu. So let people stop asking Waititu useless questions,” said the DP.
Instead, the DP said that the questions should be addressed to executive arm of the national government.
“He should only be asked about matters concerning Kiambu County: as for the national government, we have a lot of people including Cabinet Secretaries who will answer those questions. The issue of South Sudan, State House and retired presidents… we will answer them,” he added.
Waititu on Thursday morning shocked Members of the Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee after presenting them with documents from 2017/2018 financial year.
In the documents, which the governor clearly did not know what they entailed, there were various outrageous allocation of county funds.
In the report, Kiambu county had allocated Ksh180 million for the administration of benefits to retired presidents.
Surprisingly, the reports highlighted that Ksh973 million had been allocated to be used in the coordination of State House function while Ksh590 million used on State Corporations Advisory Committee.
The report also noted that Ksh 800 million was allocated to free primary education while Ksh500 million was set aside to support South Sudan’s peace process.
The members of the Senate were astonished at how Kiambu County allocated huge sums of monies to functions that are under the national government.
When he was put to task to explain why that was the case, the outspoken governor uttered:: ” What I have also seen is new to me!”
Waititu however defended his government by asserting that none of the payments have been made yet, adding that the person who was tasked to prepare it might have used the template used by the national government.
Read: Governor Waititu Defends Finance CEC Arrested With Fake US Dollars In Parklands
When matter became unbearable for him, he tried to have his Finance CEC Kigo Njega to discuss the contents of the documents but was denied an opportunity to speak by the senators.
It is revealed that during the financial year in question Njenga was not the head of the Finance ministry in the county.
Following hiss unpreparedness to appear before the committee, Kisii Senator Sam Ongeri asked the members to adjourn to a later date when the governor would come prepared.
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