MCA blames Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana, Speaker over standoff
From right: Mr Johnstone Kavuludi, Ms Alice Nderitu, Mr Mohammed Nyaoga, Mr Harrison Maithya, and Ms Emily Gatuguta the commissioners looking into the petition seeking the suspension of Makueni County government address journalists in Wote Town on Wednesday. PHOTO | PIUS MAUNDU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- He said Speaker Stephen Ngelu was a key ally of Mr Philip Kaloki, who ran for governor against Kivutha Kibwana, noting that the differences are a continuation of the poll rivalry.
- Mr Nzilili also played down a gun drama at the assembly on September 23 last year that was touted as an attempted assassination on Mr Kibwana.
Personal differences between the governor and the assembly Speaker are the cause of problems in Makueni County, an MCA has said.
Mr Cosmas Nzilili of Ivingoni/Nzambani Ward, testifying before a commission of inquiry into a petition to suspend the county government, said the differences are spillovers from the 2013 General Election.
He said Speaker Stephen Ngelu was a key ally of Mr Philip Kaloki, who ran for governor against Kivutha Kibwana, noting that the differences are a continuation of the poll rivalry.
“We elected a Speaker without knowing his earlier relationship with Mr Kaloki would play out in the assembly,” said Mr Nzilili.
Mr Nzilili, who testified on Tuesday and yesterday morning, added: “I think the Speaker and governor have never accepted each other.”
“The bad blood between the executive and the county assembly is not a stalemate. These are just personal differences,” he added.
“The governor, who is adored by a majority of us, should stop seeing Mr Kaloki in the Speaker,” said Mr Nzilili, who is allied to the Wiper Democratic Movement.
PLAYED DOWN
Mr Nzilili also played down a gun drama at the assembly on September 23 last year that was touted as an attempted assassination on Mr Kibwana.
“There was no attempt to assassinate anybody. The meeting that brought together elected leaders except the governor was not meant to harm the county boss.
Responding to Mr Wilfred Nyamu, the lawyer for Mr Kibwana and the executive, Mr Nzilili said he was not party to the resolutions made at a prior meeting in Mombasa.
There were reports that the meetings were part of a scheme to oust Mr Kibwana, who was accused of incompetence and abetting graft, something Mr Nzilili denied. “The assembly had problems with budgeting because it had no template to base its budget on,” he said.
Following the standoff, some residents wrote to President Uhuru Kenyatta to form a commission to look into the possibility of suspending the county government.
Reports were that operations of the county government had stopped because the assembly had refused to pass the budget. However, the MCA said this wasn’t true. “When we are told we did not pass the budget, then that is ignorance,” he told the commission led by Mr Mohammed Nyaoga.
The hearing continues.
