On 24.01.2015 the then Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka launched 6 brand new tractors costing 28 million saying the County would charge 80% of the market rates. To plough an acre of virgin land – Kshs. 3,000/=, old land – Kshs. 2,500 and harrowing – Kshs. 1,800 per acre. With a total of eight tractors the county was set to manage the high ploughing demand even though they were inadequate.
Over time the tractors which operate from Mabanga Agricultural Training Centre have been hugely mismanaged by both regimes but mostly by the current one. The machines once broken down are selectively repaired as money allocated for repairs is squandered by the in-charge.
The failure by the county to pay 8 drivers for four months shows how careless the management is on handling matters welfare of the drivers who are not only up in arms for lack of pay but have also other concerns;
- Robert Lusweti the manager is accused of many things among the nepotism/favoritism where he with a lot of impunity prefers assigning Mr. Wanyonyi his relative (one of the 8 drivers) as the rest stay ideal for weeks. Wanyonyi is said to be the most preferred because of the corrupt deals they have with Lusweti i.e
- Whenever he goes out to plough 10 acres, they only record 2 with the balance shared amongst themselves and some unknown person only referred to as boss. The proceeds of this corrupt dealings have enabled Lusweti own a bar which has doubled up as a meeting point between him and Wanyonyi after the day’s work to share the corrupt money
- Wanyonyi is said to have no papers but has experience… He is blamed to be colluding with the leadership to deny those with papers get permanent employment. In short; All the 8 drivers are casuals
- Money allocated for maintenance is only used for repairing his relative’s tractor… Robert has failed to use money allocated for repairs of the 8 tractors leading to grounding of 5 of them and the remaining three are in bad condition. The 3 working tractors working (Holland 2, Ferguson 1)
- Western completion scandal; In April 2020 Bungoma County team was send to Kakamega to participate in the Kaliro ploughing contest where they emerged number two. The team that had signed for Kshs. 2,000 ended up being paid Kshs. 200 (lunch) only. The tractor that won the competition was driven all the way to kakamega
- National completion scandal; In Aug 2020, The drivers signed for Kshs. 8,000 per person as allowances but were paid Kshs. 200 by Lusweti who claimed to be doing so from his pocket awaiting release of allocated funds by the county. The winning tractor was also driven from Mabanga to Kitale – Endebes (Kenya Seed). They have never seen the Kshs. 8,000 they signed for
- Lunch allowance; The drivers who are entitled to Kshs. 500/= each per working day claim that they have never received a signle cent from Lusweti for years.
- Airtime; The drives who are entitled for airtime for communicating with clients now claim that whenever they Kshs 500 for 2 weeks instead of per week… They are at times given a Kshs. 1,000 airtime to share between themselves in two months… inconsistency
Speaking to ikuweikuwe the drivers indicated that Lusweti has adopted insults as a defense mechanism whenever they demand for what’s rightfully theirs. They further said that ehe County Secretary is aware but tightlipped and are therefore wondering who to turn to since the CECM is also aware of their predicament but with no action taken to better their welfare.
Rejoiders:
Agriculture CEC Makanda Mukisu replied;
I am aware of the issue of casuals and non payment of salaries but just like other casuals, they will be paid after formal engagement. Am told the union went to court and stopped employment issues and it’s only the court which can lift. On corruption and mismanagement, am willing to see evidence and forward it straight to DCI and EACC. As a CECM, those guys knows that my door is always open whenever they have issues. Infact the issue of lunch allowance was my directive when I joined the ministry. Let them use established channels of communication, including coming directly to me
Deputy County Secretary Mr. Isaack Mukenya replied;
Am not aware at all… Not either formal nor verbal complaint received. Our offices are open to all staff and we listen and act in accordance with the law whenever an issue arises.
