Harambees breed graft, Tolgos says TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2013 - 00:00 -- BY MATHEWS NDANYI Elgeyo Marakwet Governor has banned his staff from participating in harambees in out and out of the county. He says the fundraising are a potential breeding grounds for corruption and should be discouraged. Speaking yesterday to journalists at Iten Club, Tolgos said he will not participate fundraisers. He asked leaders in his area to come up with alternative ways of helping communities. He said he will strive to use the available resources to uplift the lives of the poor to discourage dependency on harambees. Most fund raisers are organised to pay school fees and offset medical bills. In the last one month, Tolgos said he has received more than 100 invitations as a guest at fundraisers. He said it is impossible to participate in such forums which require continued spending. Tolgos said those who give a lot of money in fund raisers are likely to have dubious sources of income. "Staff salaries are meagre. If they are allowed to always give out their money, they will be forced to engage in corruption and we do not want that," Tolgos said. Deputy Governor Gabriel Lamaon however said banning officials from the events, does not mean they are opposed to the harambee spirit. "Let the public officers serve the public with dedication and earn what they deserve. Harambees may be misused by politicians. We do not want to destruct them from their jobs," Lamaon said. A community leader in the area Andrew Chepkole said fundraisers provide platforms for the community to bond and socialiase, "Some of these elite we have in this county went to school courtesy of harambees. We should not ban such forums,"Chepkole said.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 20:16:00 +0000
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