Meru MCAs Stop Mwangaza’s ‘one cow per poor family’ initiative

 

Political differences in Meru County have continued to simmer after Members of the County Assembly resolved to halt Governor Kawira Mwangaza’s One Cow, One Needy Family Program. 

Following a debate held on Wednesday, March 27, the MCAs voted to scrap the program, citing irregularities in the execution process. 

The MCAs raised several reasons for opposing the program, ranging from a lack of transparency in the creation of a committee for the program to questionable prices for acquired cows.  

Speaking to the press after the assembly meeting, Kianjai Ward MCA Ken Naibae noted that Governor Mwangaza failed to follow policy guidelines when executing the program.

“Today at the Assembly, we had a debate and decided to halt the cow program because it has not been following policy guidelines,” Ken Naibae stated. 

Naibae, also the head of the Agriculture Committee in the County, further claimed that Mwangaza had yet to share a detailed guideline for the program execution, which was confusing operations within the sector. 

“When the exercises are taking place, whether it is the distribution of cows or goats, people are always fighting and we can’t trace the beneficiaries. 

“This program is being conducted in the dark, we won’t allow county matters to be conducted in the dark,” another MCA noted 

The fight between Governor Mwangaza and the MCAs over the introduction of various projects in the county has persisted for a long period, as most of the legislators opposed her plans. 

Some of the opposed projects include; the distribution of 5,115 dairy goats and 400, 000 cross-breed chickens, and 1,200 cows under her ‘One Dairy Cow One Family’ programme to needy families. 

Other projects are establishing 180 dairies and the Mechanical and Transport Fund (MTF) project geared at constructing various roads in the county. 

Following the disagreements, the Assembly rejected to approve a Ksh12.8 billion budget presented by the governor.