Uhuru Kenyatta not happy with Nakuru leadership

Is it the end of the road for Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua?

The former Administration Police boss found himself in unfamiliar waters after he was heckled in his own turf in the presence of President Uhuru Kenyatta — indications are that he may not be in good books with the Jubilee high command. 

The Head of State said he had received intelligence reports, and heard from vernacular radio stations, what the Nakuru leaders were telling people in an attempt to seek re-election in 2017.

But the governor insists that his relationship with Jubilee top brass was at his best, though some people were out to destroy him politically in spite of the good job his government has done.

“The county has achieved a lot in terms of development, especially in the health sector where our health facilities are well-equipped with drugs and modern medical equipment courtesy of the national government,” said Mbugua.

Mbugua’s administration has been on the spot in what locals described as poor development record and failure to curb lavish expenditure by members of his executive team. Despite always complaining that a huge percentage of the county’s allocation goes to the wage bill, his administration has continued to hire employees, further worsening the situation.

The president and his deputy William Ruto begun their tour of Nakuru in the neighbouring Baringo County, where they commissioned the Sh5.5 billion Chemusus Dam before travelling by road to Nakuru. But the apparent lack of county projects angered the president who criticised the local administration of doing little with the billions transferred to the counties in the last three years. 

And when the two leaders arrived at Kamara in Nakuru County, where Governor Mbugua was waiting to receive them, Uhuru lashed out at the county leadership, accusing the executive and Members of County Assembly of undermining the Jubilee administration.

A visibly angry president said that despite the county receiving a whopping Sh23 billion — from the national government — the local leaders have been going around claiming the Jubilee government has done nothing in terms of development.

“Your leaders should understand that they receive money for development because we have worked hard to ensure that counties have sufficient funds. It is wrong for them to claim that the national government has done nothing for the people,” said Uhuru who also repeated similar sentiments the next day at State House, Nakuru where he had hosted more than 500 local leaders for a breakfast meeting.

The president told leaders, including the governor, that it was important for them to attribute the successes in the county to the Jubilee leaders, rather than telling the people how Jubilee has failed.

“Maligning the national government will not ensure your re-election. We were elected as a team; the Jubilee team. When you try to separate us from you, then we have no business associating with you either,” warned Uhuru.

County Assembly Speaker Susan Kihika, who also attended the State House meeting, apologised on behalf of the county leaders, saying they had no intention of undermining Jubilee. “Mr President, I want to apologise on behalf of these leaders. Please do not hit us hard,” she pleaded.

A few hours after the State House meeting, Governor Mbugua was booed and heckled by a crowd that had gathered at PinKam House along Mburu Gichua Road to greet the president.

Mbugua however blamed the embarrassing moment on his political opponents. He said it was unfortunate that some politicians had sunk too low to organise youth to boo him in the presence of Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto.

“Since the unfortunate jeering as we bid President Uhuru farewell after his very fruitful visit, people of Nakuru and other leaders have called me and strongly condemned the incident,” he told The Nairobian.

Mbugua who had just been invited to address the crowd by the deputy president was forced to cut short his speech, as the mob booed and accused him of failing to fulfill the promises he made to voters in the run up to the 2013 General Election.

Civil rights groups have cited the county’s low budget on development, saying the bloated workforce inherited from the defunct local authority has taken up to 40 per cent of the county’s annual budget that stands at Sh11.8 billion.

The county spends Sh5.25 billion in wages and benefits for county employees. But Governor Mbugua has made it clear that he has no intention of reducing the workforce, saying it would be inhuman to do so in the face of massive unemployment.

The chairman of the Nakuru Peoples’ Accountability Forum, Simon Nasieku, however suspects that the county might be losing millions of shillings paying ghost workers because its performance does not match the size of staff it claims to employ. “We do not think that all those people employed at the county do exist. Because if they did, then things would be different,” said Nasieku.

Centre for Enhancing Democracy and Good Governance (CEDGG) that has been monitoring the development in counties, has raised issues with some of the projects initiated by the County Government of Nakuru, saying some, like an incomplete technical training institute, nursery schools and a mortuary, might turn into white elephants.