Wednesday September 5, 2018
A Garissa bank has towed away seven buses bought by the former county administration over debt.
The buses were bought for boarding secondary schools in 2016 during former Governor Nathif Jama’s tenure.
The incident has disrupted students’ transport in the affected schools.
Jama gave out the Dertu secondary school bus in June 2017, saying his administration was determined to end the suffering of students who have to cover long distances to reach school.
Dertu head teacher Nur Aden said, “We used the buses to ferry the students on opening and closing days as well as taking them to events.
“It was safe and convenient for our schools. We don’t know what to do.”
Garissa governor Ali Korane said the previous administration exaggerated the bus prices. He said the matter is being investigated by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.The governor said a new bus costs about Sh6 million, but the seven refurbished buses were bought for Sh14 million each.
“EACC is investigating circumstances under which the buses
were bought ... Fortunately, the debt owed to the bank is Sh3 million,”
Korane said.
The Star confirmed through an EACC official in Garissa that indeed
they are pursuing the matter “with a view of arresting and arraigning in
court individuals who will be found culpable.”
The buses are not registered either in the name of the bank or county
government, but in the name of the company that undertook the contract.
“We will discuss with the bank to ensure the buses are returned to the schools soon,” the governor said.
The schools that benefited from the bus donation are Dertu Girls, Haji Idriss, Yathrib, Saka Girls, Hulugho and Fafi Girls.