Uasin Gishu Senator Prof Margaret Kamar has hit back at Governor Jackson Mandago over his recent claim that he has been forced to serve as both Governor and Senator.
Mandago during his meet-the-people tour to popularize his Senate seat bid told locals that Prof Kamar had failed to deliver on her functions, forcing him to perform both duties.
According to Mandago, Prof. Kamar is a ‘yes person’ when it comes to handling Senate issues concerning devolved units.
But in a rebuttal, the Senator termed the claims made by Mandago who is seeking to take over from her as those uttered out of desperation.
“If truly HE Mandago worked as Governor and Senator, then no wonder he didn’t perform in his duties,” Prof. Kamar posted on her Facebook page.
The legislator who doubles up as the Senate Deputy Speaker listed several areas she noted Mandago had failed to deliver during his close to 10-year reign.
She named failure to utilize development funds, termination of contracts for county projects before completion, and lack of proper investment in the Health Sector as some of the issues that highlight Governor Mandago’s failure.
“He leaves the Health sector in an embarrassing state. We lost 500 million per year for lack of a level 5 hospital. This we highlighted when I brought Senate Mashinani to Uasin Gishu. Most 2nd term Governors prioritised level 5 (Five) to earn 500 million per year which they used to build their level 4 (four) hospitals in every Subcounty. Was our Governor busy doing senate work from his 1st term?” Prof Kamar asked in the lengthy post.
The Senator also accused Mandago of failing to support the Agriculture sector which is a devolved function.
She noted that while Kakamega, Bungoma, and Trans Nzoia counties were providing subsidies to their farmers, based on Senate recommendations, Uasin Gishu had not factored the same in the County budget.
“In 2019, a strong recommendation was made that Governors from the food growing counties to start subsidised inputs for farmers. The first 3 above have faithfully subsidised for their farmers. What happened to our Governor? On duty working as Senator?” said Prof Kamar.
The Senator has not yet revealed which seat she will be vying for in the upcoming general election even as Mandago intensifies his bid to be the third senator of Uasin Gishu.
