Warning
Kakamega County Commissioner Meru Mwangi has issued a stern warning to Ministry of Lands employees dabbling in corrupt land dealings in Kakamega County.
Mwangi said the government will not condone corrupt practices by civil servants charged with the responsibility of providing services to wananchi. Speaking today when he launched the Customer Service Week at the Kakamega Huduma Centre, the County Commissioner asked residents to report such officers to his office, promising to take decisive action against those who will be implicated.
“Government will not condone corrupt dealings and those found culpable will be dealt with firmly”, said Mwangi. He said civil servants have the responsibility of ensure that they are visible, available and accessible to wananchi to ensure government services are rendered seamlessly.
This is after a resident lamented to him that no service was being rendered at the Lands department in the area without one being asked to offer a bribe before they are served. An elder, Vitalis Mukabane asked the County Commissioner to reign in the errant officers, saying wananchi hardly get services without parting with a bribe.
Customers and staff of Huduma Centre in Kakamega County during Customer Service Week held in Kakamega. Residents have asked the national government to open an Immigration office in Kakamega town to help serve the high population in the area. Photo by George Kaiga, KNA)
The CC also put on notice chiefs and their assistants against tampering with names of beneficiaries of deceased persons while preparing documents in property succession matters. Some chiefs and their assistants sometimes include names of non-beneficiaries of the deceased persons, or deliberately disinherit widows during land acquisition, but I’m warning that serious action will be taken against those involved”, he added.
During the function, residents’ asked the national government to open an immigration office in Kakamega town to help serve the high population seeking Passports in the area. Customers said Kakamega County has the largest population in the western region and said there was a need to devolve the immigration office in the area to render the vital document to residents.
“You must understand government strategic programmes, including the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), to deliver effective services”, said the County Commissioner, Customer Service week, celebrated in the first week of October, is an international celebration of the importance of service, to both those who provide and consume services.