Bungoma risks being dropped out of a list of counties benefiting from a Sh350 million annual grant from the World Bank following graft claims and infighting over agriculture projects.
The projects are funded by the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (NARIGP) implemented by the Kenyan government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, State Department for Agriculture (SDA), with funding support from the World Bank.
The project aims at increasing agricultural productivity and profitability of targeted rural communities in selected counties and in the event of an eligible crisis or emergency, to provide immediate and effective response.
However, the NARIGIP project is facing a major crisis after claims of embezzlement of funds by county officials were raised to the World Bank prompting a forensic audit.
After the audit, World Bank recommended that the project is stopped.
At the center of the matter are Bungoma CECM in charge of Agriculture Chirasha Makanda, his chief officer John Wasike and one of the project heads Mary Situma .
Trouble started when Makanda and Wasike wrote to World Bank requesting Situma be removed from the project citing incompetency.
Situma however wrote back to the World Bank citing graft in the project saying she could only hand over after some audit queries are dealt with and adding she didn’t want to be followed thereafter because of mistakes committed by her seniors.
“The CECM for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Irrigation and Cooperatives, Mr Matthews Wanjala Makanda, has on many occasions put pressure on me to resign to pave way for his dubious deals which I have since declined ,” read the letter from Situma to the World Bank in part.
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