Taita-Taveta County Governor Granton Samboja over the weekend met members of the assembly (MCAs) to seek their support for his 2022 re-election bid.
The MCAs who attended the bonding and consultative meeting said the governor told them he plans to form a coalition for all MCAs regardless of parties, to bolster his re-election chances.
Over 30 MCAs attended the meeting held at an exclusive hotel in the Tsavo East National Park.
Those interviewed said the meeting was about 2022 politics and to find a unity of purpose among the two arms of the county government.
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Mwatate MCA Abednego Mwanjala said the governor reached out to the MCAs to support his re-election bid. He said they spoke about the current frosty relationship between the two arms.
“We told the governor that all is not well. We all need to pull up our socks because little is being seen on the ground in terms of development as several projects have stalled,” he said. In what he said was a candid discussion, Mwanjala said MCAs insisted he should complete all stalled projects because the ground is hostile to his administration.
“We listened to the governor’s request to support his re-election bid but we did not reach a conclusion. We will digest the request and make an informed decision on the issue,” said Mwanjala.
Ngolia Ward rep Jones Mghanga said the delay in disbursement of bursaries to bright children from poor families also took centre stage during the meeting.
“We asked the governor why the bursary allocation in the budget was reduced from Sh5 million to Sh1.6 million. This is a drop in the ocean and should be enhanced to cater for more bright children from poor families,” he said.
MCAs said the governor pleaded with them support his bid promising them to financially assist them in their campaigns. “There is also need to have unity among elected leaders. When you support me in my development programmes, you will also be succeeding in your future endeavours. So let us work together and have unity of purpose for the betterment of the electorate,” the governor told the MCAs.
The meeting was also attended by the assembly leadership among them Speaker Meshack Maganga, Deputy Speaker Chrispus Tondoo, Majority Leader Harris Keke, and his Deputy Abraham Juma.
Minority Leader Ronald Sagurani said he did not attend because of other pressing issues in his ward. Samboja’s fierce critic Jason Tuja briefly attended the meeting before he left. Insiders said that the “elephant in the room” was the poor performance of some executive members, slow pace in development, and delay in disbursement of bursaries in the county.
