- Bomachoge Borabu MP Obadiah Barongo defended his education development record during a church service in Kisii County.
- The legislator highlighted NG-CDF projects, bursary funding and school infrastructure initiatives across the constituency.
- Worshippers interrupted his address after he criticised his predecessors, urging him to avoid politics in church.
Bomachoge Borabu Member of Parliament (MP) Obadiah Barongo was on Saturday forced to defend his education record before a charged congregation at Getenga SDA Church during the ongoing Seventh-day Adventist camp meeting in Kisii County.
Speaking to worshippers, the MP said he inherited unfinished education projects from his predecessor, the late Joel Onyancha, and accused his immediate predecessor, Prof. Zadock Ogutu, of having “sat on the job” during his five-year tenure.
“When I came to office, I found stalled classrooms, incomplete laboratories and bursary structures that had collapsed. That is the reality we have been trying to fix,” Barongo told the congregation.
“We cannot develop without education. That is why we are putting money where it matters—in classrooms, bursaries and infrastructure.”
MP outlines education projects
He announced that his NG-CDF office had released KSh1.5 million to Getenga Primary School and gave the school management an alternative: either to construct a new classroom or renovate pit latrines, which he said were in a deplorable state.
The mood shifted when Barongo said he had taken time to complete five schools, including Eberege Primary School in Magenche Ward, where Prof. Ogutu comes from.
The remarks drew boos from worshippers, who shouted him down and urged him to avoid discussing politics in church and instead focus on service delivery.
Calls to complete projects
Barongo further stated that more than KSh20 million had been allocated in the current financial year for bursaries to benefit needy students in secondary schools, colleges and universities across Bomachoge Borabu Constituency.
Church leaders and parents urged the MP to fast-track the projects.
“We appreciate what you have started, but our children need classrooms now, not promises,” said one elder.
Barongo assured residents that all NG-CDF-funded projects would be completed before the next election.
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“Judge me by what I have done, not by what others failed to do,” he said.
By Enock Okong’o
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