Row as Kiambu residents protest MCAs week long induction retreat in Mombasa

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu, Speaker Stephen Ndichu and other county officials. (Photo: Kamau Maichuhie)

Residents have faulted their ward representatives for holding a meeting away from home.

Barely a week after they were sworn into office, Members of the County Assembly are in the spotlight for attending a week-long induction in Mombasa County.

The MCAs have received a backlash from residents who are up in arms over the retreat, terming it unnecessary.

Some of the residents have taken to social media to castigate the 92 MCAs - 60 elected and 32 nominated - saying the trip is a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Residents who spoke to The Standard said the MCAs should have saved money by having the workshop in Kiambu.

“We have so many Government institutions in Kiambu where they could have held the induction. What they are doing amounts to wastage of public resources,” said Benson Kimani, who lives in Kiambu town.

The MCAs were sworn in last Thursday at an event attended by Governor Ferdinand Waititu and his deputy James Nyoro.

The MCAs thereafter elected former Juja MP Stephen Ndichu as their speaker.

There has been heated debate among various social media groups over the last two days, among them United States of Kiambu, Thika Town Politics, Gatundu South News and Home ni Lari.

The group members have expressed anger at social media reports alleging that all the expenses for the MCAs and a number of assembly staff, amounting to Sh10 million, had been catered for by the county government.

Wrong foot

“What the MCAs have done is driven by greed and selfishness. In Kiambu, we have started on the wrong foot. As our patients continue to suffer in hospitals for lack of drugs, our recently elected ward reps are making merry at the coast,” posted Mwangi Muthiora on the United States of Kiambu Facebook group.

Alice Irungu, a Thika resident, said the timing of the ward reps’ trip to the Coast while leaders in other counties were busy campaigning for the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta was wrong.

“The move to plan the retreat in Mombasa was totally unwise. Instead of first campaigning for the re-election of the President in the fresh election scheduled for October 17 as other leaders are doing, our MCAs are busy at the coast enjoying themselves. We feel disappointed and let down,” said Ms Irungu.

Efforts to get a comment from the assembly leadership were fruitless as our calls to the speaker and Assembly Clerk John Mutie went unanswered.

Facebook page

However, in a post on his Facebook page, the governor, while denying he was with the ward representatives at the coast retreat, absolved the county government by saying the induction workshop was donor-funded.

“The MCAs are part of the Legislature, which is an independent body that forms part of the County Government of Kiambu. The fact that the Legislature decided to have their induction (that is donor-funded) at the coast has nothing to do with the Executive arm of government that is headed by me. I therefore urge those fanning fire where there is none to urgently engage in matters that will help us grow as a county,” Waititu said.