Excitement in Laikipia over Kiunjuri cabinet appointment

Excitement has gripped Laikipia County following the appointment Mwangi Kiunjuri as the cabinet secretary for Devolution and Planning.

Mr Kiunjuri is former Laikipia East Member of Parliament.

Scores of his erstwhile political rivals and his supporters gathered at Vineyard hotel in Nanyuki on Wednesday morning to celebrate the appointment.

Members of the county assembly also shelved the morning business to join the residents in thanking the President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto for appointing Mr Kiunjuri.

“It’s 27 years since we had a cabinet minister from Laikipia. We are very grateful to the President and his deputy for remembering us,” deputy county assembly Speaker Peter Kimondo said.

Former Nanyuki mayor Isaac Mathenge expressed optimism that Mr Kiunjuri would deliver on the aspirations of the Jubilee administration since he had a clean record as an MP and assistant minister.

The leaders said the region had been sidelined for a long time and it was always seen as an extension of Nyeri County.

“We have always been regarded as part of Nyeri, but the gesture by the President proves that we are a county by itself that is capable of producing high quality leadership,” Majority leader Ephraim Mwangi said.

Mukogondo East ward representative Paul Leshual said rejection of Mr Kiunjuri in the last General Election was a decision by the voters and should not mean that the local leaders were still opposed to him.