COUNTY POLITICS: Four roll up their sleeves to dislodge 'man of tanks'

The senator’s position in Kiambu has attracted four aspirants out to challenge the incumbent Kimani Wamatangi.

Because Jubilee is the most popular party in the county, they are all seeking its ticket. And whoever gets it during the primaries will almost be assured to sail through at the polls.

In the race so far is former Limuru Member of Parliament (MP) George Nyanja who is making a second attempt after losing in 2013.

Mr Nyanja came third with 49,000 votes behind Mr Wamatangi (The National Alliance) who had 575,000 votes and former Kiambaa MP Stanley Githunguri (Kanu) who scored 73,700 votes.

Mr Nyanja wanted to be governor but lost in the Jubilee primaries to eventual winner William Kabogo.

He then defected to Narc and vied for the senatorial seat.

Mr Stephen Ndichu, the former Juja MP is another aspirant. In 2013, Mr Ndichu also wanted to contest for senate before changing his mind and going for the Githunguri National Assembly seat which he lost to Njoroge Baiya.

Dr Juliet Kimemia, a lecture at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, is the third senatorial aspirant.

The candidates have to cover 12 constituencies which have close to one million voters.

EYEING SEAT

Ngewa Ward Representative Karungo wa Thang’wa, a former broadcaster who made his political debut in 2013, is eyeing the senatorial seat.

Campaigns for the position are, however, low key compared to the race for governorship and MP.

Mr Wamatangi will be banking on his track record to convince the electorate for a re-election. He has been outlining his roles and achievements during meet the people tours.

The senator says he played his role of representation by ensuring the county government gets its equitable share allocation on time, and that the funds are spend properly.

Mr Wamatangi said since 2013, he has not only ensured that Governor William Kabogo’s administration received money, and that the allocation went up from Sh6 billion in 2013 to over Sh8 billion in 2016.

“Our county has never failed to receive its allocation on time. Even when there were threats on sanctions after the governor failed to honour senate summons to respond to queries on misappropriation, through my work, Kiambu was never denied funds,” he said.

The senator said he has played his oversight role by always putting to task the county executive on expenditure and other matters regarding the county. He did this as a member of Senate's public accounts and investments committee.

TOUGH QUESTIONS

Mr Kabogo and other county officials, he said, have often through his initiatives appeared before the committee to face tough questions on use of the devolved funds.

In September, Mr Kabogo and the senator clashed when the former appeared before the Senate committee to respond to audit queries raised by the Auditor-General.

“The senator is supposed to do a follow-up and ensure the money is spent appropriately. This is not done through shouting but procedurally and anytime there have been issues, I have faced off with the governor when seeking answers,” he said.

During protests by traders over the Finance Act, Mr Wamatangi raised the matter at the Senate and the Budget and Finance Committee toured the county to investigate the matter.

Apart from the Finance Bill fiasco, Mr Wamatangi also petitioned the Senate on the contentious county headquarters issue, following a decision by Mr Kabogo to shift the head offices from Kiambu to Thika town.

Mr Wamatangi, who hails from Kibiku in Kabete on several occasions, publicly faulted the county government leadership, accusing it of lacking clear plans, wastage of funds and failing to involve locals in its activities.

This has earned him a thorny relationship with Mr Kabogo and his allies, but the Senator maintains he was only doing his job.

'MY RESPONSIBILITIES'

“I have never had personal beef with the governor, and all that has been happening arises from my responsibilities as a Senator and not as an individual.

I am not that kind of a leader who will take to the podium to throw tantrums to someone when there is a procedure to handle issues,” he said.

Unlike other elected leaders in the county who have been vocal against Mr Kabogo in rallies, the senator has mostly raised the issues in the senate.

In terms of legislation which is one of the three functions of a senator, Mr Wamatangi said he not only participated in pushing for laws that are favourable to devolution, but has also independently sponsored Bills.

These include the Micro and Small Enterprises (amendment) Bill seeking the recognition of micro and small medium enterprises, which is currently at the third reading.

The Kiambu Senator has also sponsored the Assumption of the office of Governor Bill (2016) which, among other things, seeks to guide assumption of office by a Governor-elect.

The senator has also been running community-based programmes through his Wamatangi Foundation which gives free water storage tanks to churches, schools, community homes and women help groups acquire them at a subsidized cost.

According to the senator, the foundation whose head offices are in Kikuyu town, has so far donated over 22, 000 tanks in arid and semi-arid parts of Kiambu.

The foundation also has vehicles which help the public with transport during social and institutional functions such as pre-weddings, weddings, funerals, church events and driving lessons.