By Jeff Otieno

Kenya Anti Corruption Kisumu Regional office has summoned four former and current senior Kisumu municipal council officers to report to their offices on 5/12/2011 to explain allegations that they dished out council plots under dubious circumstances.

In a letter availed to the press dated 29th November 2011 ref EACC/KSM/6/15/6/4 signed by Stanley Miriti and copied to the Kisumu Town clerk Chris Rosana and Provincial Local Government Officer (P.L.G.O), read in part “You are hereby summoned to appear in our regional office to explain allegations that you gave out public land without following the required disposal procedures”.

A debate has however emerged on the mode of operations by the officers at the Kisumu regional office who were literally led in one of the cafeteria in town by a renegade civic leader who has all along been opposed to the council idea to give out huge chunks of land lying fallow to be developed to curb the housing crisis which has hit the lakeside city courtesy of the newly built Kisumu International Airport among other upcoming economic ventures.

For starters the councilor in question arrived by two anti graft officers to arrest the chief officer not knowing that two of their colleagues were already there to serve the officer with summons first as demanded by procedures.

On realizing that the chief officer had not been served they literally started blaming the councilor for misleading them and they left in a huff boarding a vehicle of the councilor bearing a number plate of a neighbouring country.

In the wee hours of the night the said anti graft officers are ever embedded with this civic leader who seems to be the source of their half baked information which they use in intimidating unsuspecting government officers.

This hurry to arrest and settle personal scores was exhibited in the said restaurant when the officers came with a nicely printed summon but failed to realize that the name of their target wasn’t in comformity thus they became embarrassed and started erasing the name on the table like green horns in the trade which require cautious and thorough approach if you’re to attain you goal.

Tension is brewing in the Lakeside city particularly in the Town Hall following allegations that the newly posted Town Clerk Chris Rosana has ganged up with some notorious three councilors to frustrate the general progress of the city. “ Rosana is just a fault finder, Kisumu is bigger than this man no wonder he has spent his entire life in village councils,” quipped a lady councilor when told that the clerk wanted to reverse allotment of plots on allegations that certain provisions weren’t adhered to.

“ How come a whole Town Clerk can usurp the role of a planner by stooping too low to be the one signing approvals for buildings,” She continued.

Investigations by this journalist reveals that Rosana who is hardly found in the office last month issued a draconian decree that nobody including the allotees should step in the council plots until an audit whose time frame is only known to him which he constituted comes up with a final report.

The controversial plots which were given last year had even some street vendors and who is who in the political circles benefiting and they were all issued with allotment letters after the ballot and all the accruing rates paid to the council.

Those who could not pay the Kshs. 39,000/= decided to sell theirs to interested developers at a fee in the region of Kshs. 300,000/= to 400,000/=. Balloting fee was Kshs 7,500/=. Entire council employees also benefited during the day time ballot at the council main hall.

Mood at the council is said to be at it’s lowest ebb with workers said to be contemplating downing their tools if the newly posted clerk can’t change his management style which they describe as “too colonial and vendetta driven”

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