Governors threaten to quit Kalonzo party

The three Ukambani governors have threatened to leave the Wiper Movement Party, accusing it of failing to protect them from county assembly members.

The governors, Dr Julius Malombe (Kitui), Prof Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni) and Dr Alfred Mutua (Machakos) accuse the Kalonzo Musyoka-led party of failing to contain Members of County Assemblies elected on the party’s tickets to bring order in their counties.

They claimed the political turmoil in their counties has been ‘artifically created’ to hold them at ransom and derail their development agenda.

“We can’t go on like this. Certain leaders must take responsibility for their political acts of omission,” Dr Mutua said in an apparent reference Wiper Party leader Mr Musyoka.

Dr Mutua claimed senior politicians in the region who feel threatened by devolution were allegedly stoking fires to keep governors busy fighting political wars.

“Some older generation leaders are envious of what we have managed to achieve in just one and half years. They are the ones behind our problems as they fear that devolution will render them politically irrelevant” Dr Mutua added.

BAD TERMS
Dr Mutua who had been in bad terms with Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama since last year, said the three governors would chart a new way forward for the community.

“I have been accused of leaning towards Jubilee but to develop your county is not to be in jubilee. Even in Cord, we can still develop but if they chase us away we will go elsewhere,” said Dr Mutua.

His embattled Makueni counterpart Prof Kibwana who was impeached two weeks ago by the Wiper-dominated county assembly was more categorical; “The crisis could have been resolved earlier if the party had whipped its members to drop the motion.”

“I thought Wiper leaders were my brothers but the party watched as its own members pushed through a motion to impeach me,” Prof Kibwana lamented.

He questioned why all the 20 Wiper MCAs disregarded a resolution reached during a meeting chaired by party chairman, and Kitui Senator David Musila, to drop the impeachment motion.

“It is clear to me that Wiper doesn’t need me. It’s leadership has forsaken me at my hour of need,” Prof Kibwana said adding he’ll fight his impeachment both in the courts and the senate.  Dr Malombe warned that impeachment threats will draw the region back in development.

“If we continue with this trend where governors face sustained onslaught, always being forced to put out unnecessary political fires, no development will be achieved here,” said Dr Malombe.

“The whole country has a lot of faith in the three Ukambani governors to deliver but local critics are spoiling everything.

“We’ve set the pace for this country and many counties are emulating Kitui, Machakos and Makueni. However, our own people have refused to see this and are making every effort to derail us. This has to stop,” he said.

OFFICIALS FAULTED
Wiper top officials have been blamed for doing little to restore harmony in Makueni. Former Vice President Mr Musyoka has been out the country for the last three weeks.

“We wilnot allow Prof Kibwana to be impeached. We are supporting him,” Dr Mutua said.

Additional reporting by Stephen Muthini