Makueni in limbo as Reps, governor harden positions

The troubled Makueni County risks sinking deeper into turmoil unless urgent steps are taken to reconcile the feuding leaders.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to reject the Nyaoga Commission recommendations to suspend the county has thrown a blanket of uncertainty on the matter, doing little to blunt the sharp political differences between Governor Kivutha Kibwana and the County Assembly.

Members of the County Assembly, who would have been the major casualties of the suspension, are planning rallies to celebrate the President’s decision, as the Governor agonises over the turn of events.

The MCAs said the veto against suspension of the county was a victory to them because most were unsure of securing their seats in a by-election.

Assembly Speaker Stephen Ngelu and Majority leader Francis Mutuku said it was a huge relief when President Kenyatta disagreed with the commission. He said many MCAs were happy they would not have to face the electorate before 2017.

Governor Kibwana, who favoured the dissolution and was behind the signature collection bid that culminated in the people’s petition, has few options left to wriggle out of the situation that has paralysed the county government’s work.

Before the dissolution process began, MCAs had passed an impeachment Motion against the Governor — whose debate is still pending at the Senate, courtesy of an injunction Prof Kibwana obtained in court.

Less than two years to the next General Election, Prof Kibwana has the complicated task of fighting his impeachment in court, reaching out to the unfriendly county assembly, and playing catch-up with other counties.

The professor, renowned for his activism in the fight for multi-party democracy, has faced a different ball game since his election as the first governor of Makueni. But how he handles the MCAs, who have been emboldened by the President’s decision, will determine the county’s future.

The governor said the commission’s verdict confirmed the wishes of the people to have the county dissolved. “I will soon be holding meetings to consult the people on the way forward, but people are not happy with the President’s verdict,” he said.

Makueni county has been carrying forward funds meant for development since 2013 as the political impasse between the executive and the assembly made implementation of projects difficult.

Some leaders are accusing the President of complicating the situation by acting against the interests of 50,000 Makueni people who filed the petition. They also want the damning findings made by the commission regarding misuse of public funds and integrity issues touching on both the assembly and the executive to be investigated and those found culpable prosecuted.

In separate interviews, local leaders agreed that whereas the dissolution process had hit a dead end, measures must be taken to enact legal mechanisms of resolving intra-county disputes.

Leaders interviewed included Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior, National Assembly Minority Leader Francis Nyenze and lead petitioner Munywoki Kilonzo.

The genesis of the impasse was the budgetary allocation to the county assembly, where the Governor accused MCAs of blackmailing him to give them more funds.