After Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya issued an ultimatum to traders whose businesses are wrongly situated in Kakamega town, he supervised the demolition of kiosks in Kakamega town terming them a blemish.
The Governor who on Thursday had assumed the role of County enforcement officer, led the uprooting of kiosks along Sudi road with the remains being uplifted to the County yard at Mwauda just within town.
“These kiosks are destroying the good town image. Some people are teachers and other employed people with possession of over five kiosks which they have turned into shylocks, renting out to others at Kshs 15, 000 a year, yet they themselves just pay the County Kshs 1, 000 annually,” he said.
Oparanya insisted furiously that he was going to study the records and cancel the allocations of such kiosks and promised to personally re-allocate the kiosks to other people.
The Governor has also inspected roads under construction and the ongoing beatification of Muliro Gardens and expressed disappointment about the shoddy work being done.
During the inspection, the Governor ordered a contractor who had grabbed part of a road in the town and converted it to his gate to vacate the site so that the road can be renovated.
He did not, however, visit the Nabongo sewer ponds where private developers have grabbed land meant to be the buffer zone for the lagoons in Scheme estate.
On Tuesday, the County pulled down a morgue owned by a private developer in Emusonga estate in the town. Oparanya had earlier warned county officials against permitting developers to construct mortuaries in residential areas.
In December, Oparanya unveiled the Kakamega municipality charter and the town management board.
Kakamega senator Cleophas Malala expressed his disappointment with the process saying it was wrong for the County government to evict the traders from their current locations without giving then adequate notice and an alternative place they should move to.