Senator Omogeni to Nyaribo: ‘Pay ECDE teachers, community health promoters’

Nyamira Senator Okong'o Omogeni on Sunday asked Nyamira County Governor Amos Nyaribo to improve pay for ECDE teachers.

He separately took issue with what he termed as political witch-hunt and “arbitrary sacking and demotion of county staff by the county boss so as to accommodate his cronies.”

AVDelta News could not independently verify the claims.

Speaking in Nyamira, senator Omogeni claimed that already some workers have reported to him that they have been demoted.

Several others, he said, had been denied promotions.

"You cannot work effectively by fighting staff left right and centre. All the staff should be respected and accorded their space to work because they are civil servants who by law are apolitical," senator Omogeni said.

The vocal senator said the governor was only keen on rewarding his cronies at the detriment of development.

"The people you're fighting are our children. You can't be sacking them to replace them with cronies. They have families and need money just like you," Mr Omogeni charged.

Any Governor stepping into office, said Omogeni, should be ready to work with those he finds in those offices.

"This issue of victimizing staff should stop. No governor who is doing so at the moment appears to be registering any meaningful development in their backyard," he said.

On ECDE teachers, the senator said it was shameful that Nyamira was paying them as lows as Sh12,000 when the neighbouring Kisii was paying Sh28,000.

“He (Mr Nyaribo) can just travel by road to Kisii and benchmark how things are done,” the senator said.

He also asked the governor to fast-track the payments of health promoters who have gone without their monthly stipends for more than a year now.

The senator separately has described as 'gravely low and demeaning' tea bonus payments made out to farmers from the region.

He said it still begs questions on why farmers from the larger Gusii region continue to suffer with low bonuses every other year.

This year's bonus rations oscillated between Sh20 and Sh30 for Nyamira farmers while their counterparts from Central earned as high as Sh60.

Nyankoba Factory's farmers earned a high of Sh35 while most other factories dished dismal earnings.

"This definitely shows that we as leaders have some homework to do. Personally, I am not going to rest till the crop earnings are improved for you.

"A farmer would only enjoy the fruits of his labour with good pay," Omogeni told journalists Sunday.

He said most governors were still not keen on matters tea though agriculture was a devolved function.

"My Governor Amos Nyaribo is sleeping on the job. He has failed to push your agenda as farmers. Such governors are like bad players who should be substituted," the Nyamira Senator told farmers.

Fund allocations to agriculture functions in most devolved units was still low thus affecting production, he added.

Omogeni who is spoiling for Gubernatorial post in 2027 further claimed that some NARIGP ( National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project) funds were yet to be disbursed to the farmers across the County by the Governor.

NARIGP is a Government project that being implemented through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation (MoALF&I), State Department for Crop Development (SDCD), with funding support from the World Bank.

Omogeni said though the Governor claims on paper to had spent the donor cash on the farmers, most farmers were still crying foul.

"I now challenge him to come and explain how the funds were used because the farmers say they have not been issued with the cash yet," Omogeni stated.

Governor Nyaribo was yet to respond to the claims by press time.