Kilifi Residents Protest alleged Diversion of County Relief food funds

CHITI Mwatuphi

Kilifi residents are up in protest after it emerged that the County Government may have diverted millions of shillings set aside to mitigate drought effects.

The County is still listed among regions that are still in dire need of relief food due to the prolonged drought in the country.Despite all these, it has now emerged that the county did little in terms of food distribution and that only resources from the national government through the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) reached the majority of the affected families.This is evident by the midterm report from Controller of budget which stated that by end of second quarter of fiscal year,Kilifi had spent zero on development.

So far, only distribution supervised by Kilifi County Commissioner Kutswa Olaka can be accounted for where 3,600 bags of rice, 1,440 bags of beans and 900 cartons of preserved meat were distributed.

However the much hyped food distribution exercise by the county may as well have been a scheme by several high ranking officials in the county to deplete public coffers at the expense of thousands of innocent residents.

New revelations indicate that several companies have been listed as beneficiaries of food supplies that never were. Interestingly, religious organizations have been linked to a well-orchestrated plan that saw millions of shillings diverted for personal gain.

Among those being linked is the New Life Church founder Pastor Ezekiel Odero who was present when  Governor Gideon Mung’aro and officers from the national government flagged off distribution of relief food in the county.

Our sources have exclusively found out that on or about 9th of December 2022,millions of money were deposited in New Life’s church account where withdrawals were made in systematic manner.

One of the church council member is said to have delivered the cash to one of the senior county official in person at watamu.

This comes at a time when the governor is battling accusations of walking with tender requisition books so that he can offer lucrative and multimillion supply deals to his cronies.

A close ally to the governor, one Mr. Alinoor Mohammed Ali alias Alinoor Maghufuli Alinoor is one of the alleged cartels that is threatening to take full control of the entire procurement department.

A whistleblower called Yussuf Ismael has vowed to expose the cartel.

“We know his plan. He is trying to get back his money and pay back the debts. Someone like Alinoor has vowed to blackmail the governor through his own video and audio recordings.” Said Yussuf IsmaelYussuf claims that he has several of Mung’aros evidences among them Audios, videos pictures of extorting.

In another incident it has also been established that one Caroline Kalume aka Cheupe who was Governor Kingi’s chief of staff, was sucked by Mung’aro after she gave out the rot in procurement and how coffers money is being looted heavily.

Bitter Elizabeth Katana says that Cheupe was sucked after giving out all the evidences.

“She was in a club drunk. She gave out all the information concerning the recent drought saga.  Mung’aro was very bitter about her. He can’t keep a word. He has a lot of enemies. Actually his leadership can be compared to Narco-Saints one of the best movie series.” She said

It has now been established that Matano Riziki head of procurement and And Winnie Wakati the chief officer for finance are the ones misleading the governor.

One of the angry MCA who sought anonymity said that Mung’aro might be found in a very tight corner.

“Governor Mung’aro is acting as if the county is his, his brother David Mwathethe chief officer Health and sanitation is the only one who can access the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) no any chief officer has access to the system.” He said

Our investigations has also revealed that after a recent uproar in Kilifi several MCAs were given kSh.20 thousand each by the Governor as a way of silencing them. The MCAs later took pics with the Governor as symbol of unity.