Vihiga will try to resolve its border dispute with Kisumu over Maseno before Parliament dissolves next year, Governor Moses Akaranga has said.
The governor formed a 10-member task force on Sunday to tackle the problem.
It is headed by Deputy Governor Caleb Amaswache.
“The dispute remains a pain to my government. I appeal for patience and support as we tackle the issue,” he told the Star in his office yesterday.
Akaranga said the task force will prepare a motion for approval by the assembly.
He said MCAs will then petition the National Assembly and the Senate to form a commission for boundary review.
The governor said Maseno residents have long fought for inclusion in the former Western province and Vihiga county, where they “rightly belong”.
Akaranga said he has provided leadership in the county’s governance and development, despite being elected with only one MCA in the assembly in his party.
“If any of the county’s policies and plans fell short of satisfactory performance, it is not because they were not guided,” he said.
“It’s because of personal weaknesses, for which they will require prayers.”
Akaranga said the Sh800 million county bills pending are due to the government’s failure to meet revenue collection targets.
“We had provided Sh377 million as revenue collection but we only realised Sh120 million,” he said.
The governor said the assembly’s spending was capped at Sh295 million by the Commission on Revenue Allocation.
This was later revised to Sh641million in the supplementary budget, he said.
“These challenges and payment of outstanding bills for 2013-14 projects easily explain the pending bills,” Akaranga said.