By A, KNA
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has asked people who are yet to be compensated for their land, on which the Ejinja-Bumala road to see him on Monday next week.
Omtatah said owners of the parcels of the land which the government hived off 14 years ago for road construction have been waiting for their compensation for too long, adding that it was not until he was elected in 2022 that he followed up the compensation issue.
“I urge anybody who feels he or she was short-changed to seek my indulgence to enable me take decisive action on the perpetrators and to enable victims of injustices receive their rights,” he said.
Omtatah who was addressing mourners at the burial service of the post-World War 2 veteran Mzee Cornel Wabwire Mwami, 98, at Kinjabi village, Nambale Township location Busia County, said Kenya has become a corrupt country where people take the slightest opportunity to steal.
“Here in Kenya, people have made it a trend that money has to be stolen and this has to stop,” he said.
He appealed to all those who had been promised compensation 14 years ago to come forward, saying the government has released the money.
“Someone had deposited the money in his personal account to accrue interest,” he said.
He assured those affected that the money is now ready to be paid to the public and urged those claiming compensation to ensure that they make a follow-up immediately.
Meanwhile, Omutatah has appealed to residents of Busia County to attend a public participation forum at the ATC Busia on Monday as the Senate kicks off its week-long sittings.
The forum will give the public an opportunity to raise issues about the county and give recommendations and solutions to emerging issues.
Assembly Speaker Eng. Fredrick Odilo appealed to the people of Busia to support his quest for the Busia County gubernatorial seat in 2027 General elections.
He advised the MCAs and the Members of parliament to consolidate their budget for agriculture to ensure the timely availability of fertilizer for the farmers.
He said this will mitigate delays by the National Cereals and Produce Board, which has inconvenienced the maize farmers who missed the DAP fertilizer because it arrived long after they had planted.
The late Cornel Wabwire Mwami was the father to former Busia County Executive Committee Member for Education John Mwami, among others during the Sospeter Ojaamong’ administration.
He was enlisted in the Kings African Rifles in 1954 and deployed and shipped to Egypt for two years, mainly to detonate bombs dropped there during the second world war.
He leaves behind 15 children, 51 grandchildren, and 29 great-grandchildren.