So yesterday, Ken Lusaka – the one of the non-carcinogenic wheelbarrows scandal, was sworn in as Bungoma Governor, and in his speech, he said he had learnt from his mistakes and will not repeat them.
People listening to him thought he meant he would not steal nor allow stealing under his watch.
Unfortunately, it is back to business as usual.
The budget speaks of extravagance, reckless spending and “parte after parte”.
While Arati of Kisii County spent Sh3.5million on the swearing-in ceremony, Lusaka pushed the budget from the initial Sh6,324,000 allocated in the central budget (captured as MB) to Sh18,709,900.
From the revised budget, conspicuous expenditures include dinner for 300 dignitaries at a total cost of Sh4.6 million – meaning every guest at the dinner spent Sh15,333 worth of food and drinks.
Other crazy expenditures were Sh5.2 million on tents and decor, Sh2.1 million on “public lunches” of 7,000 people hosted in venues that were invite-only, an unspecified number of flags at Sh70,000 and Sh100,000 on printing a speech that was neither shared in hard copy nor soft.
To raise this money, the new Governor and immediate former Senate Speaker raided the budgets of other offices, including the Office of the County Secretary (OCS), Governor’s Office (GVN), Public Admin (P/A) and Finance (FIN).
For a man with a reputation for whiskies, music, dance and travel, this marks the beginning of one endless ceremony through 2027.
