Kimunya writes to ‘thankless lot’

Former transport minister Amos Kimunya during a road transport stakeholders meeting on November 12, 2012.

What you need to know:

  • Transport minister complains that Kipipiri electors did not appreciate his development record

Transport minister Amos Kimunya lost to a newcomer and immediately wrote to his constituents accusing them of being unappreciative of his good work.

Mr Kimunya, who has held the Kipipiri parliamentary seat for 10 years, was defeated by Nairobi lawyer Samuel Kamunye Gichigi.

The minister was handed the TNA ticket after a controversial nomination. The results were not announced after Mr Gichigi complained of irregularities.

The lawyer managed to secure an APK ticket to fight for the seat. He garnered 18,972 votes against Mr Kimunya’s 16,689.

In an unprecedented move, Mr Kimunya wrote to the people of Kipipiri accusing them of not appreciating his development record and left it with an official of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

Returning officer Acenia Njoroge read the letter to the people after announcing the results.

The letter read in part: “I am very disappointed that the people of Kipipiri did not appreciate my development record.”

Mr Kimunya has been part of the key team in outgoing President Kibaki’s regime having served as Finance minister during his first term. He quit the docket after Parliament accused him of misleading Kenyans on the sale of the Grand Regency Hotel.

Mr Gichigi had campaigned for the minister in previous elections before the two fell out.

The new MP said he cut ties with the minister after realising that he was not development oriented and was out of touch with the local people.

“I supported him (Mr Kimunya) in 2007 because I wanted our constituency to retain the Finance docket. I hoped that with the docket, Mr Kimunya would be able to steer the development agenda. However, that never happened and today, 75 per cent of Kipipiri does not have access to piped water,” said Mr Gichigi.