Rivals Wambora, Mbarire set to lock horns again
What you need to know:
- Mr Wambora, 65, and Ms Mbarire, 44, first locked horns in the 2007 polls for the Runyenjes parliamentary seat which the latter won.
- A former long-serving civil servant, Mr Wambora entered politics in 2002 when he bagged the Runyenjes seat, dethroning Njeru Kathangu.
- Democratic Party national organising secretary Njagi Kumantha is also in the race.
- Mr Wambora has had a tumultuous time in office, becoming the first governor to be impeached twice before he was reinstated by the courts.
Perennial rivals Martin Wambora and Cecily Mbarire have renewed their political battle ahead of next year’s Embu governor vote.
Mr Wambora, 65, and Ms Mbarire, 44, first locked horns in the 2007 polls for the Runyenjes parliamentary seat which the latter won.
A former long-serving civil servant, Mr Wambora entered politics in 2002 when he bagged the Runyenjes seat, dethroning Njeru Kathangu.
In 2013, Mr Wambora was prevailed upon by President Uhuru Kenyatta to switch from vying for the seat on an Alliance Party of Kenya (APK) ticket and instead go for governor on a TNA ticket, an election he easily won.
Ms Mbarire, who is serving her third term in Parliament after been nominated in 2002, won the seat on a TNA ticket in 2013.
Senator Lenny Kivuti and Mbeere North MP Charles Njagagua won on an APK ticket while Manyatta MP John Muchiri and Mbeere South’s Mutava Musyimi carried the TNA flag.
The political equation in Embu is, however, changing with Mr Wambora and the MPs now coalescing around Jubilee Party.
Others in the race for the Jubilee ticket are Mr Kithinji Kiragu, a public sector management consultant, who emerged second in the 2013 poll, and former Transport Permanent Secretary Cyrus Njiru.
Democratic Party national organising secretary Njagi Kumantha is also in the race.
Mr Kithinji, Dr Kumantha and Dr Njiru are all riding on the fact that they have held top management positions and say the job of governor requires a manager, not a politician.
IMPROVE PROFESSIONALS
Dr Kumantha, who was third in 2013, is a psychiatrist and a former medical superintendent at Mathari Hospital.
He says he will involve professionals in running the county if he wins.
Dr Njiru, a former employee of the African Development Bank, says he will unite communities living in the county.
The county is home to the Embu, Mbeere and Kamba.
“I am committed to solving youth unemployment and boosting farm yields,” says Mr Kiragu, the proprietor of Embu College and Embu High School.
A survey by Saturday Nation suggests that the major battle will be for the Jubilee Party nomination that pits Mr Wambora, Ms Mbarire, Mr Njiru and Mr Kumantha.
Ms Mbarire, an Embu, has won the support of National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, a Mbeere, Mr Kivuti, Woman Representative Rose Mitaru, Deputy Governor Dorothy Nditi and County Assembly Speaker Kariuki Mate.
But Mr Wambora says he is not shaken, insisting his selling point would be his “impressive development record”.
Mr Wambora has had a tumultuous time in office, becoming the first governor to be impeached twice before he was reinstated by the courts.
He played down tribal divisions between the dominant Embu and the minority Mbeeres over control of the agriculture-rich county. He said Embu residents were not interested in tribalism which he said was promoted by politicians during elections.
Insisting he was still a close ally of President Kenyatta, Mr Wambora said Ms Mbarire’s perceived proximity to State House and Jubilee Party would not help her.
“Without rigging it would be impossible to remove Wambora. I am happy the President and his deputy William Ruto have assured us in national media there will be no rigging and that the nominations will be done by IEBC,” Mr Wambora said.
Ms Mbarire accuses Mr Wambora’s government of failing locals by allocating more resources to recurrent expenditure than development,
But the governor says his administration inherited a bloated workforce from former county councils and civil servants since Embu was a provincial headquarters.
The governor cites six graders his government bought that have opened up 105 kilometres of access roads, upgraded 359 kms and tarmacked six kilometres as one of his success stories.
He also boasts other achievements such as value addition for crops that has seen two macadamia factories established that employ more than 500 people. Coffee is also being milled in the county.
The county government has given 12,000-litre tanks of water to all primary and secondary schools, erected floodlights at 39 markets and set up a Sh19 million Youth Trust Fund.
EQUIPPED HOSPITALS
It has also upgraded and equipped hospitals, including Embu Level V, that now has 10 dialysis machines compared to Kenyatta National Hospital’s 15.
Embu has entered a partnership with the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology to supply laptops to private schools and revamped vocational training colleges.
“I have gone through a tough time but I will continue being firm. I know people want development and service. The noise has gone down and we are now working.” he said.
A key 12.8 kilometre road is however currently the genesis of a protracted political fight between Mr Wambora and MPs.
The Embu Level Five Hospital-Kibugu road, which links Embu with Kirinyaga County, has dragged in President Kenyatta’s name, with the governor and the MPs claiming mileage for it.
MPs Kivuti, Ms Mbarire, Muchiri and Njagagua have insisted the road had been promised by the national government and told Mr Wambora not to build it.
They accuse Mr Wambora of competing with the national government, adding that the President will soon launch the road construction as part of a 120-kilometre ring road.
However, Mr Wambora insists he is only complementing the national government’s effort and says he has invited President Kenyatta to launch the road “soon.”
Ms Mbarire and Mr Wambora have been trading barbs since early 2013, with the MP accusing the governor of underperformance while he accuses her of sabotage. Interestingly, both invoke the President’s name.
“I enjoy an exceptionally good relationship with the President. There are many major projects he is going to start here. He is the one who received me in TNA, and I can never let him down,” said the governor.
Ms Mbarire, on the other hand, says the national government projects were lobbied for by the county MPs and she should take credit. “There is nothing much to show for the billions sent to the county.”
The Head of State has tactically avoided touring the county, showing up once during a thanksgiving ceremony by Speaker Muturi in 2014.
The President recently cancelled a tour set for August 6, a decision that causing a hue and cry from the legislators.
“Embu people are now grumbling. They have been telling us to bring the President so that he can address the ring road issue, the four dams, the Embu University College and many others,” complained Ms Mbarire on July 29.