Battle lines drawn in Kitui after Ngilu cancels MCAs’ Mombasa retreat

Fresh battle lines have been drawn between Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and Members of the County Assembly after the MCAs censured the governor and demanded unconditional apology for “disrespecting” them.

The abortive consultative meeting between the two arms of Kitui government scheduled for September 4 to September 8 in Mombasa is the basis of the new political battle.

Mrs Ngilu was to lead her executive to the meeting to cement working relationships with the assembly but this was not to be after Ngilu cancelled the forum at the eleventh hour.

There is now bad blood between that could affect service delivery and derail Ngilu’s development agenda between now and 2022.

The assembly has already passed a motion of censure against the governor and a petition requiring to apologise to the house.

The MCAs have also given conditions which they say will determine their engagement with the governor.

During a three-and-half hour debate last week on the aborted Mombasa trip, Majority Leader Peter Kilonzo said the House felt cheated by the eleventh-hour cancellation of the trip.

When Speaker George Ndotto put the censure question on the floor, the 54 MCAs roared back in affirmative in unison.

The assembly gave Mr Ndotto consent and powers to write to the governor and demand a written apology.

The MCAs directed the House Committee on Procedure and Rules to formulate rules of engagement between the Executive and the Assembly to avert similar incidents in the future.

Mr Kilonzo, the Athi MCA, said the cancellation of the meeting exposed the House to embarrassment and public ridicule.

“Mr Speaker, the governor’s action caused us a lot of ridicule, exposing us as very desperate... we were depicted as people who were out to squander public resources,” he said when the house debated the matter on September 12, 2018.

He said the consultative meeting scheduled in Mombasa was called, planned and funded by the executive and it was in bad faith for Ngilu’s side to move it to Mwingi Cottage Hotel in Kitui County.

“On the basis of the invitation letters issued by the acting county secretary Alex Kimanzi dated August 30, 2018, the House adjourned business and the MCAs travelled to Mombasa for the forum. How come someone or a group of people connived to change the venue at the last minute? This is sad and embarrassing,” the MCA said.

An attempt by Minority Leader Kisangau Mbaki, his deputy Alex Nganga and Matinyani MCA Munyalo Kitheka to defend the executive was met with stiff opposition as majority of members across the political divide booed and jeered them.

At one point, Mr Kitheka was ejected from the House by the speaker for misconduct.

The governor has gone public to claim that some Wiper MPs and MCAs were practising partisan politics in the assembly and conspiring to cause confusion in assembly in a bid to derail her service delivery agenda geared to transforming the livelihoods of residents.

“Let it be clear that if the mistrust continues, I will retreat and seek other remedies. For one, I will bypass the leaders, particularly the MCAs, and reach out directly to the electorate to tell them who is derailing development in their respective wards and constituencies,” said Ngilu.

Warning that she was getting impatient with the lawmakers, Ngilu told the MCAs they were not doing her any favours by approving budgetary allocations, adding that prioritising the funds would ensure that the county’s development agenda was implemented to change residents' lives.

“You know me, don’t you? It is either the leaders work with me in leading a government that is geared to help the county to rise from poverty, neglect and hopelessness and write a new chapter in people’s lives, or I raise the red flag and move forward with only those who can accommodate me,” the governor said.

At one public function in Mwingi North, Ngilu turned to Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and asked the former vice president to tame his 'antagonistic party brigade'.

The governor who left on Saturday for the United Nations for a conference could not be reached for comment. She is accompanied by a chief officer in her office Agnes Mulewa and a policy advisor Nzungi Ngwele among others in the 10-day tour.

Mr Ngwele told Standard on Saturday he could not comment anything on behalf of his boss. "No comment," he said

Another forte for Ngilu is a national figure with considerable political CV because of her role in the struggle for the restoration of multiparty political system in later 80s and early 90s.

She has served in the Kibaki and Uhuru Cabinets and ran contested the presidency in 1997, placing her way above many politicians. And, her control of the county resources gives her an edge over MCAs.

The governor’s political craftiness and resilience coupled with a fanatic support among the youth and women also disadvantages her rivals.