Governor Wa Iria blames local politics for his troubles

Murang'a Governor Mwangi wa Iria now claims a local politician is behind the tribulations he is facing.

Speaking just a day after the High Court stopped the police from arresting him until an appeal pending in court was heard and determined, Mr Iria blamed his predicament on politics in the area.

Addressing a rally at Gakoigo showground in Maragua as he launched the New Nginda milk cooler, Iria accused the said politician of sabotaging county development plans by plotting for his arrest.

The governor is being sought by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives.

"The political battle was schemed after those out to sabotage my dairy programme realised the impact created within three months, with farmers reaping benefits," said Iria.

Recently, the governor claimed that Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau was undermining him politically.

Mr Kamau has, however, denied sabotaging the governor or any other leader, saying he was concentrating on the affairs of his constituency.

He spoke as a delegation from Trans Nzoia County, led by the Executive for Economic Planning, Veronica Muthoni, arrived in the region for a benchmarking strategy in agriculture related programmes.

Iria appealed to leaders in the county to forge unity and work together instead of undermining others.

Wait for 2017

He told those interested in political fights to wait for the 2017 General Election.

Members of the Murang'a County Assembly, led by Chief Whip David Kabaka and Charles Karina appealed to politicians in the area to stop antagonising the governor and instead support him as they pledged to unite during the campaign period.

Iria said he went into hiding on Tuesday after realising detectives were out to humiliate him as his lawyer Ng'ang'a Mbugua moved to court to seek an injunction to stop his arrest.

"I knew of the schemes to frustrate me," said the governor.

He said his tribulations started after Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko gave EACC the nod to prosecute him.