Kondele MCA Joachim Oketch alias Swagga who is eying Kisumu Central MP seat has pledged to end the underdevelopment and service delivery problems in the area.
He blamed the slow development of projects in Kisumu Central on “a suffocating budget deficit”.
Oketch said that the amount collected in revenue by the county was far below the expected Sh3.8 billion collected.
“The reality on the ground is that there is a budget shortfall which is why development at the ward level is standing still,” Oketch noted.
He said only Sh 1.2 billion was collected in the county last year.
He said more than half the amount collected comes from Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) from the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH).
However, this amount is legally for use only by the health sector and cannot be used for general development.
Out of Sh 1.2 billion, Oketch said Sh 600 million is FIF money mainly from JOOTRH. “That money is ring-fenced,” he said.
This, he said, leaves Kisumu County with about Sh 800 million to cater for 35 wards, with recurrent expenses and development projects which is not even half what is required.
“The needs at the ward level is about Sh 1 billion, but Kisumu can collect as much as Sh 3.8 billion,” Oketch said.
“The disparity is too big and it is a system that is strained. The pace of development in the county is strained.” he said it was not sustainable. Leaders are in a system that does not have enough resources,” he said.
Oketch has promised investors, development partners, finding other sources of funding and an investment-friendly climate in Kisumu Central.
According to Oketch, the thinking must move beyond traditional revenue collection to investment as that is the key to progress.
“We must make Kisumu Central an attractive destination for investors locally and internationally,” he said.
Oketch also plans to have prudent resource management, saying he will emulate what Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro does, but added that Kisumu has few resources which requires it to use innovation.
“When you have few resources you need innovation as the key driving force,” he added.
Oketch said Kisumu needs solutions rather than simply stating problems as far as county’s funding issues are concerned shifting the focus from what will be done to how it can be done.
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