The Senate Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, chaired by Wajir Senator Mohamed Abbas, has today put Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku to task over the alleged misuse of a Kshs63 million World Bank grant to expand the Kajiado Municipality Market. 

This comes after Kajiado Municipality Clothes Market Traders drew the attention of the Senate, through a petition to the August House, that the County Government of Kajiado had misappropriated funds meant to refurbish and expand the market by scaling down the amenities that were intended and budgeted for.

While considering the Governor’s response to the Petition at Parliament Buildings, the Members of the Committee expressed their concerns about the alleged loss of public funds in the project before advising counties to use conditional grants appropriately to avoid being blacklisted. 

“As you may be aware, there’s a social risk that comes with conditional grants. If these allegations are substantiated, it may stall Kajiado County from getting the next batch of the funds,” said Senator Catherine Mumma. 

In his defence, Governor Lenku absolved his county from any wrongdoing claiming that the petitioners were erroneous in their submissions since Kajiado County Government received Kshs60 million and not Kshs63 million as claimed. 

He further informed Senators that the funds were not only meant to expand and refurbish the market but also to undertake other works in Kajiado Town. 

The Members of the Committee resolved to visit Kajiado Municipality Market and Kajiado Town to dig deeper into the allegations before taking the next course of action.