University students protest outside the Kajiado County offices.     PHOTO: COURTESY

By PETERSON GITHAIGA

Kajiado, Kenya: There was trouble at the Kajiado county assembly yesterday morning when a group of youths from the Maasai community stormed the chambers and sat on the Speaker’s chair.

The youths, drawn from different universities in Nairobi and under the umbrella “Kajiado County Youth Congress’’, demanded to be addressed by Governor David Nkidianye and House Speaker Daniel Osoi over alleged lack of transparency in vetting county jobs.

The students also accused Nkidianye of failing to steer his government from petty politics, causing development projects to come to a standstill.

“Some of these MCAs are illiterate yet they are the ones sitting on vetting committees where deserving people are being denied jobs just because they do not come from the same clans as the MCAs,” charged the students.

They accused some MCAs of being part of a cartel that is paralysing efforts to appoint competent public officials in the county.

“It is a shame that these applicants excelled in the interview stage only to be rejected at the vetting level by the MCAs. How is it that a person who has never been inside a classroom is now vetting university graduates?” asked Evans Tonkei, a student.

Waving twigs and placards, the more than 300 students held a demonstration from Kajiado town to the county offices where they jumped over a perimeter fence to gain entry.

On noticing the youths, the county officials hurriedly locked the offices and left.

Anti-riot police officers pleaded with the students to leave the chambers as most of them were jumping and shouting atop the seats.

“Did we elect you to be leaders of your clans and sub-clans or for all the citizens of this county?’’ asked Jonathan Kipopo, another student.

“We would like to point out that the gender balance rule should be applied in all forms of hiring people to different offices in this county,’’ said Agatha Kimiti.

The students said while other counties are done recruiting their officers, Kajiado leaders were busy running political battles. In a written statement handed to the governor’s office, the students demanded dialogue between the assembly and the county executive to guarantee real development in the county.

They also demanded clean, professional and balanced recruitment and vetting practices, devoid of clanism and nepotism.

Meanwhile, Governor Nkedinaye has sacked two of his county executives over claims that they aided an MP to grab 824 acres of trust land in Kajiado.

Dickson Ntikoisa (Public Works) and Richard Parsitau (Lands) are accused of assisting the MP to allegedly grab the land belonging to the Oloisho-Oibor community in Keekonyokie Plateau.

The land in question was set aside by the defunct Olkejuado County Council in 1982 as a water catchment area. The council held the trust on behalf of the community.

The MP is alleged to have held discussions with the two county ministers to seek assistance in transferring the community land to two of his aides.

Ntikoisa and Parsitau, however, told The Standard on Saturday that they were innocent.

Ntikoisa dismissed claims by the MP that he paid Sh2 million for the deal.