KAKAMEGA COUNTY 2021/22 BUDGET MAKING PROCESS UNDERWAY

The Ministry of Finance, Planning and ICT Tuesday morning commenced a Countywide two day public participation exercise aimed at collecting views from citizens of Kakamega County to help guide the Government to deliver people owned projects and programs in the Financial Year 2021/2022. The exercise is in line with the Constitutional requirement on involvement of citizens in management County affairs through public participation.

Dr. Beatrice Sabana the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Finance, Planning and ICT joined residents of Shinyalu Sub-County at Solyo grounds for the official opening of the exercise where she thanked the participants for showing up in large numbers and actively contributing by giving their views that will be used to come up with the 2021 County Fiscal Strategy Paper; a document she explained, is very crucial in the budget making process for the County.

The CECM revealed that the County Government has put emphasis on completion of existing projects and operationalization of facilities such as hospitals to ensure they are well equipped with drugs, equipment and other essential materials.

“The 2010 Constitution provides an opportunity for wananchi to decide what their Government should undertake, thus the reason we are holding this important exercise in all the 12 Sub-Counties to ensure your views are well captured before the document is presented to the County Assembly for deliberation,” she said.

Chief Officer for Finance CPA Amb James Ochami who was at Eshisiru multi-purpose hall for the same exercise said in addition to the members of the public, the organizers also invited members of the County Budget and Economic Forum (CBEF) to listen to the views by the residents on behalf of other key stakeholders.

CBEF is a forum chaired by the Governor that provides a means for consultation between the County Government and various stakeholders in the County such as Faith based organisations, People Living with Disabilities, Youths and the Business community among others.

“We have invited the CBEF leadership led by the Secretary who is also the Chairperson of the Business Community in Kakamega to ensure all the issues raised are considered in the final report,” he added.

Today the teams collected views in Shinyalu, Lurambi, Mumias West, Matungu, Ikolomani and Navakholo Sub-Counties. The remaining six Sub-Counties will be covered this Wednesday.

The County Ag. Head of Budget CPA David Musafiri Kulova, the CEO Kakamega County Investment and Development Agency Mr. Joseph Ogonyo Indire and the CBEF Secretary Rev. William Ouya were also in attendance.