An uproar by Member of Parliament for Saboti Constituency has forced President William Ruto’s government to cancel a multi-billion road upgrade in Mt. Kenya region.
In a tender advertisement on 16th April, 2024, Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) and Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) had allocated a total of Ksh1,676,000,000 to Kikuyu Constituency alone, out of the Ksh1,891,890,000 to the whole Kiambu County.
According to the tender notice, KeRRA allocated Ksh1,456,000,000 to Kikiyu Constituency, which was about 94.4 per cent of the total allocation of Sh350 million to the entire Kiambu County.
On the other hand, KURA had allocated the same Kikuyu Constituency a total of Ksh220 million, about 63 per cent of the Sh350 million allocated for to the entire Kiambu County.
The allocations irked Saboti MP Caleb Amisi to criticize the move, calling out the government on regional bias.
“Kikuyu constituency alone has received Ksh 1.4B for road maintenance while entire Western region comprising of five counties and 39 constituencies has only Ksh 50 million inside Kakamega State Lodge,” Amisi posted on his verified X account.
Kikuyu constituency alone has received ksh 1.4B for road maintenance while entire western region comprising of 5 counties and 39 constituencies has only ksh50m inside kakamega state Lodge. @MusaliaMudavadi and @HonWetangula between two of you and @KIMANIICHUNGWAH who is no. 3 in… pic.twitter.com/ShPPhHwijH
— Hon. Caleb Amisi, MP (@Honcalebamisi) May 7, 2024
Mr. Amisi then piled pressure on Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Speaker Moses Wetangula to declare whom amongst them and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa is third-in-command in the Kenya Kwanza government.
His uproar ignited heated debates on social media platforms as well as in a section of government units.
However, Amisi’s aproar was not in vain as the KURA announced the cancellation of the said tenders.
“This is to bring to the attention of the general public the cancellation of all the tenders that were advertised in MyGov Newspaper on April 16th, 2024,” read a notice from KURA.
Immediately after KURA’s cancellation notice, the ODM legislator, who is serving his second term, went on a celebration spree, asking the government to be fair in the resource distribution across the country.
“When we make noice, things happen. Well done. Now, we are looking forward to a new allocation that is fairly distributed across all the 290 constituencies.”
When we make noice ,things happen. Well done. Now, we are looking forward to a new allocation that is fairly distributed across all the 290 constituencies. @kipmurkomen reign into these guys, bwana! They are destroying our nation under your watch . pic.twitter.com/HGO7gymrMc
— Hon. Caleb Amisi, MP (@Honcalebamisi) May 9, 2024