Story by Osuta Yusuf.
Maracha District.
6-October-2025.
What You Need to Know:
Maracha District council approved 36 billion Shs for the 2025 / 2026 financial year budget.
Despite shrinking service delivery due to inadequate revenue source and also funding from the central government, the council allocated 2m Shs for T-shirts and 6m Shs for capacity building and tours in the 2025 / 2026 financial year budget.
The district council on 29-5-2025 didn’t approve the 2m Shs for service award after a news update over it which immediately attracted abuses and criticism from the public before the council ended.
A good number of district councilors in Maracha District have on Wednesday 1-October-2025 turned down their boss, the LC5 Chairperson Hon Stephen Obitre’s advise made out of frustration to focus on service delivery priorities instead of allocating money for service awards.
The U-turn statement made by the LC5 Chairperson comes at a time when his hand and that of the council was burnt after the public became annoyed and criticized them upon a news update which indicated that, the district council of the 4th ordinary council sitting of the 4th session of the 3rd council on 29-5-2025 was debating proposal to allocate for themselves 2m Shs to buy T-shirts as an appreciation, out of the 36 billion Shs district budget for the 2025 / 2026 financial year as their term of office 2021 – 2026 comes to an end.
The proposal which was not approved in the previous council because of public outburst, was eventually approved during Wednesday’s council sitting after many of the district Councilors paid deaf ears to public concerns and they unanimously decided to pass the 2m Shs voted from the budget of 2025 / 2026 financial year.
Following the backlash over the allocation of the 2m Shs in the names of “T-shirts as Service Awards”, the Councilor for Drambu Sub-county to Maracha District council Hon Waga Charles requested the district councilors not to fear public criticism over the allocation which is just 2m Shs only out of the 36b Shs, but rather they just need to change the name and intention for the funds, from “Service Awards” to “Memorial Ornaments” which will be for remembering the dead sons and daughters of Maracha District who have in one way or the other contributed a lot in the district.
Hon Amazi Sarah the female Youth Councilor for Maracha District who advised the councilors to set aside their emotions over the criticism they faced, requested the council to increase the budget by allocating 300,000 Shs to be given in envelopes to each district councilor, on top of the T-shirts as service award, a cash bonanza suggestion which would show the Taxpayers spend a total of 10,800,000 Shs on the 36 councilors of Maracha District.
The LC5 Chairperson for Maracha District, Hon Obitre Stephen who felt the pinch of the criticism towards the district council after we published a news update about it, vowed never to wear the T-shirt because of the wave of attacks and criticism that was directed towards the district council over the appropriation.
“As the line Secretary for Finance, I am really really uncomfortable because if you people read all those abuses those guys of Maracha Parliament WhatsApp group abused us the district council over the 2m Shs voted for the T-shirts as service awards”, worried Hon Obitre lamented as he requested the council not to approve the 2m Shs for the T-shirts but rather divert the money into other sectors of service delivery.
In his conclusion remarks, the LC5 Chairperson requested the district council to excuse himself from benefiting from the service award if they insist, a submission which most of the councilors who spoke over the matter disagreed on, with one of the female councilors requesting the LC5 to allocate his share for herself.
Hon Ariaka Vincent who in the previous council proposed for the council to merge the 2m Shs for T-shirts and 6M Shs for capacity building, and then proposed for the council to give it to them as cash monies in an envelope, bragged in Wednesday’s council sitting, that, every day he gets more than 50,000 Shs and it is a shame for Media to taint their image, as he tried to solicit for a forceful apology from the Journalist who published a news update and broadcasted the council session that time on 29-5-2025 which eventually led to the public vending harsh criticism against the district council.
In his submission over the matter, Tara Sub-county Councilor Rt Hon Wanni Emmanuel who doubles as the district speaker, described the 2m Shs allocation for service award as a norm which they have been practicing in the district council for all these 15 years and he wondered why this particular one would be a matter of controversy.
Stay tuned.