No poll campaigns in Nakuru, says governor

Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua and his deputy Joseph Ruto address the Press at Enashipai Resort in Naivasha. The two leaders banned referendum campaigns in the county. [PHOTO: ANTONY GITONGA/STANDARD]

Nakuru; Kenya: Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua has banned referendum campaigns in the county and told those spearheading the plebiscite calls to keep off his county.

Mbugua said the county has remained united, noting that their stand on the push for a referendum is clear.

The governor said the push for a referendum was likely to tear the county apart at a time when reconciliation after the Post Election Violence was taking shape.

The governor said no one in the county supports the vote, adding all leaders in the area had agreed to stop the campaigns.

“I want to make it very clear that no one will be allowed to campaign or even hold a meeting intended to rally support for the said referendum here,” he said.

In a move that will not augur well with other governors, Mbugua challenged those supporting the vote to seek alternative ways of resolving the current impasse.

SET MECHANISMS

He said some issues in the referendum agenda were better off addressed through other mechanisms and not through a vote that would cost the taxpayer billions of shillings.

“We have made laws and Jubilee leaders believe such issues will be addressed in line with the set guidelines in the Constitution,” he said.

Mbugua however said the county was not coerced by the national leaders to drop their bid for the vote, saying it was a decision arrived at by the county grassroots leaders.

“I can tell you for sure that even if my deputy and I support the calls by the Council of Governors, we will be talking to ourselves,” he said.

The governor was speaking to the Press after hosting a delegation of Nigerian businessmen who were on a tour of the county at Enashipai Resort in Naivasha.

Deputy governor Joseph Ruto said no one was welcome in the county with calls for the vote.

He said they had held several meetings in the county since the debate started and it was evident that the move was not popular in the area.

“We believe we have acted in the best interest of the residents of this great county and we owe no one an apology for choosing this path,” he said.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has told governors to stop telling Kenyans that they do not have enough funds for development yet they returned Sh30 billion to the exchequer in the last financial year.

He said it was unfortunate governors and CORD leaders were concentrating on raising political temperatures with their calls for a referendum.

But CORD leader Raila Odinga says the popular vote will anchor in law a formula for sharing public appointments among Kenyan communities.

Raila faulted the government for skewed appointments in the public service, a matter he said must be constitutionalised to allow all Kenyans, even those from minority tribes, to play a part in the running of the country’s affairs.

The CORD leader who addressed supporters in Eastleigh before meeting the Marsabit community in Nairobi at Huruma Primary School said the Okoa Kenya Movement referendum, largely associated with the Opposition, will cap the number of appointments a given community can get.