Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has spoken on empowerment initiatives, saying his ministry is only obligated to scrutinize government-backed programs.
In an interview on Thursday, August 28, Mbadi explained that his role does not extend to monitoring how private individuals finance such activities.
"I would only be concerned if the requisition was coming to the government to release money for that program, then I would ask the value for money out of it and at that time I would give it proper assessment.
"Because this is private money that I am not answerable to the source for, then I don’t have an obligation to talk about it. Since they have not come and made a request for the money, I am not under any obligation to ask where the money is coming from," he stated.
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This comes a week after Uriri MP Mark Nyamita moved to clarify the source of money used in the increasingly popular empowerment forums.
Speaking on Thursday, August 21, Nyamita explained that the initiative is a coordinated support system among MPs, where they contribute to each other’s events.
"The empowerment programme is a merry-go-round among MPs, where we go to support each other in our constituencies. I have personally attended 18 empowerment forums, and those 18 colleagues also owe me a visit. In such forums, we might raise about Ksh5 million from colleagues, but not from corruption," he said.
Nyamita's statement came in response to DCP Party deputy leader Cleophas Malala who alleged that MPs were given the money by people within the Executive.
"When MPs attend empowerment programmes, they are given Ksh300,000. Out of that, they keep Ksh200,000 for themselves and only contribute Ksh100,000. I have seen MP Mark Nyamita being given money by Farouk [Kibet]," he claimed.
Still on empowerment, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi announced that he will no longer participate in church fundraising activities, instead directing his focus on community empowerment projects.
Speaking on Wednesday, August 27, Sudi said he had grown weary of criticism from certain church leaders and would therefore step back from making contributions in places of worship.
"You’ve heard how some church people keep saying all sorts of things and making noise. I’ve decided to put church matters aside. Next year, I’ll focus only on empowerment, and I’ll do it right here in Kapseret throughout the year.
"My goal is to reach the youth, women, and elders so that we can come together where it really matters," he said.
