Kirinyaga Jubilee campaign money accounted for, group says
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru (centre) and members of Jubilee women brigade campaigning for President Uhuru Kenyatta in the run-up to the October 26 election. A group, Kirinyaga Jubilee Campaign Committee, has said that money raised for the campaigns headed by MS Waiguru can be accounted for. PHOTO | GEORGE MUNENE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Residents and a section of leaders demanded that the committee accounts for Sh51.9 million.
- Campaign team said leaders had pledged Sh32 million but only Sh12.24 million was realised in cash.
- The statement followed complaints by some leaders that there were very few campaign activities in the area.
A group calling itself Kirinyaga Jubilee Campaign Committee has said that money raised for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election campaigns can be accounted for.
This is after residents and a section of leaders demanded that the committee accounts for Sh51.9 million said to have been raised in the drive spearheaded by Governor Anne Waiguru.
In a statement to the media, the committee members, Mr James Murango, Ms Wanjiru Njeru and Mr Alister Murimi said leaders had pledged Sh32 million but only Sh12.24 million was realised in cash through an account they managed.
They said another Sh4.5 million was provided by Kirinyaga professionals from a separate account.
Mr Murango is the Kirinyaga County Assembly majority leader, Ms Wanjiru Njeru an MCA while Mr Murimi represents professionals in Kirinyaga.
SIGNATORIES
“The signatories to the account were Mwea MP Wachira Kabinga, County Assembly Majority Leader James Murango, MCA Wanjiru Njeru and Mr Alister Murimi, [and] represented various stakeholders who contributed to the campaign. It is important to note that neither the governor nor the deputy governor were signatories to this account,” the statement said.
They said that that contributors were either giving cash to the campaign kitty or directly funding campaign activities based on the amount pledged.
COMPLAINTS
The statement followed complaints by some leaders that there were very few campaign activities in the area and challenged the committee that was handling the money to explain how it was spent.
“We want to be told where most of the cash went because only 10 vehicles were branded and few campaign roadshows [were] conducted. This is a scandal,” said Mr Peter Kariuki from Mwea.
However, the campaign team gave a breakdown of contributions to the kitty.
DIRECT FUNDING
“Among those who opted to directly fund campaign activities instead of giving cash are Woman Representative Purity Ngirici who pledged Sh1 million which was not received in cash but directly administered to the campaign. Others are Mwea MP Wachira Kabinga who pledged Sh500,000 but only gave Sh200,000 in cash. Kirinyaga Central MP Munene Wambugu pledged Sh1 million but only gave Sh200,000 in cash and Ndia MP George Kariuki pledged Sh500,000 but did not give any cash to the campaign kitty,” the statement reads.
The committee added that county assembly members pledged Sh4.2 million but only gave Sh1.8 million to the fund.
It states that a contribution expected from the Jubilee Party for agents was disbursed directly to each MP and was not channelled to the campaign account.
“The campaign posted exemplary results with President Uhuru Kenyatta getting 99.5 per cent of the votes cast in the October 26 election. It is therefore inappropriate for some leaders to resort to propaganda with the aim of sabotaging Governor Waiguru’s administration,” they stated.
