Senate Mashinani begins in Busia as residents advocate for infrastructure development

Residents in Busia County are demanding unity and the establishment of sporting facilities within the region as the Senate convenes its sessions during the ongoing Senate Mashinani initiative.

The County Assembly is hosting the initiative, where senators are expected to hold both plenary and committee sessions for 5 days starting today, Monday.

Busia is the fifth country to host the initiative.

Leaders were met with the pale reality of poor infrastructure and lack of sporting facilities, forcing the Senate to use a primary school's field for their football tournament, triggering reactions from the public.

The residents lament ill leadership as the reason behind poor infrastructure in the county.

"We do not have a stadium in Busia. The one we had has long been destroyed and so we have been borrowing spaces from schools. We even have players from the national team like Nabwire, Wanyama but the problem is poor leadership," said Reagan Wesonga.

"I urge the players to partner with the government to construct a stadium. There is no way the Senate will come and play here and the field is just murram."

The leaders however praised the initiative as a move to build harmony between the Senate and the County Assemblies.

"It is an important session whereby it helps break the bad eyes between the senate and the county assembly so that when we start the session tomorrow, we will engage with people who know each other," said Okiya Omtatah.

His sentiments were echoed by Busia Senate speaker Fredrick Odilo who expressed optimism that the initiative will act as a benchmark for both parties to polish their mandates to improve service delivery.

"We expect that our staff and honorable members of the county assembly are going to learn and interact more with senators and staff from the senate. We expect the public to come and join us to put out their problems that face this county to the senators and try find solutions to those problems," he said.

The Kenya Women Senators Association (KEWOSA) is expected to engage local communities on Monday morning to discuss various issues, including HIV awareness, teenage pregnancies and gender based violence before retreating to committee meetings later in the day.

The initiative comes hot on the heels of counties still battling with challenges ranging from wrangles within the county assemblies, impeachment of some governors by the MCAs and dilapidated infrastructure, more than a decade after the rollout of devolution.