Kenya:Legislators at loggerhead with President Kenyatta over development projects

By Samuel Ouma [caption id="attachment_50937" align="alignleft" width="850"] President Uhuru Kenyatta addressing Parliament on the State of the Nation. [Photo/Courtesy][/caption]President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive to freeze new development projects until the ongoing ones are completed has suffered a blow following resistance from the legislators. They have slammed the move to have all projects approved by the Treasury and office of the President. South Mugirango legislator Sylvanous Osoro said President has no right to halt the projects which have been budgeted for. He added that the basis of the move needs to be clarified saying some schemes are urgent and affect many Kenyans. The South Mugirango Member of Parliament claimed that the command has caused trepidation and mix-up among the government officials who do not know which project to launch. The accounting officers in ministries, departments and state corporations have no authority to approve development plans not endorsed by the office of the President and Treasury. The leaders have requested the government to be clear on what it considers new projects now that the implementations of Big Four Agenda are underway. They noted the order will bar them from fulfilling the promises they made during the campaigns. “The balance on development projects was the scorecard upon which we asked for re-election. This was the momentum upon which we were given another mandate. We must keep the development momentum,” said North Mugirango legislator Joash Nyamoko. The irate leaders faulted President Kenyatta for issuing a blanket order against news budgets after the Members of Parliament had passed the budget. They challenged him to follow due process in case he wants to substitute new projects factored in the budget for the ongoing ones. Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua is bearing blame for paralyzing government operations by failing to issue circular expounding the presidential directive. In July 20, 2018 President issued the directive to stop wastage of resources and habit of government agencies abandoning incomplete projects and jumping to others. He sternly warned all government officers that they will be held liable should they sanction new projects without authority from the National Treasury. “There will be no new projects that will be embarked on until you complete those that are ongoing,” stated President Kenyatta.