Malava MP Malulu Injendi has blasted ongoing talk of a referendum and the BBI discourse, saying it’s misplaced in the midst of a pandemic. “Money should be channeled to handle Covid-19, not the BBI. There was a time when Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said it’s everyone for himself, it shows that he has also given up already,” he said, insisting that the collection of signatures drive should be set aside. The MP, who was speaking to West FM, said ODM leader Raila Odinga took over the Jubilee party manifesto, and issue based discussions aren’t valued anymore, “Raila is busy talking about the BBI and nothing else, like education,” he said, “Now, all the money available is set aside for the BBI discourse and a referendum, and some are estimating that Kshs 14 billion is needed for a referendum, where will that money come from?”
He speculated that the money to be used for a referendum was originally set aside for the pandemic and that Kenyans should refuse the BBI message, and instead push for matters health and education, “The President some time back used to talk about these key issues, but now all focus has shifted to the report.” He added that changes effected in parliament committees make it hard for some MPs to table other proposals that don’t revolve around the BBI report and its progress. He also called out KNUT secretary general Wilson Sossion, pointing out that he was more active in his role of checking the government before the opposition’s influence grew in government.
On the fight against the virus in Kakamega County, Injendi faulted Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, saying he should also put a hold on BBI talk and focus on service delivery. He said the hospital in Malava is in poor condition, yet money was allocated towards improving preparedness. He said MPs from the County have met the Governor only once to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic, “Oparanya should renovate the Malava hospital, which lacks among other things a fumigation machine.” He noted the state of the Kakamega hospital is also poor, and that some prominent people who were receiving treatment there had to be transferred to Nairobi in order to get better healthcare, “They had the money, what about the normal patient who doesn’t have the financial muscle, if he isn’t taken to Nairobi, he will die.”