No end to wrangles in Kiambu as Governor William Kabogo, local leaders tussle

Governor William Kabogo.

KIAMBU COUNTY: Almost two years after the General Election, Kiambu County is still embroiled in political wrangles pitting Governor William Kabogo and some area Members of Parliament.

During this time, MPs Kimani Ichungw’a (Kikuyu), Alice Ng’ang’a (Thika town), Kigo Njenga (Gatundu North) and Mburu Kahangara (Lari) have been unable to sit easy with the governor and some of them have complained that they are seldom consulted by when critical issues about the county emerge.

 It does not seem to matter that all these leaders are under the banner of The National Alliance. Kabogo has minced no words in his criticism some Kiambu county leaders. While addressing Kiambu town residents when flagging off a fleet of garbage collection trucks recently, Kabogo said he would be moving to the new county headquarters in the town which is almost complete so that leaders like Kimani Ichungw’a can stop bothering him.

The governor urged Ichungw’a and MPs who have been criticising him over the location of the county headquarters to give him time to serve Kiambu residents.

He accused the Kikuyu lawmaker of inciting residents against his administration.

“I urge the elected leaders to allow me to deliver on my mandate. We need development not politics,” he said.

In a swift rejoinder, Ichungw’a said Kabogo should acknowledge that it was the residents who asked that their county headquarters be moved to Kiambu town.

“It is not me pressuring Kabogo to move to Kiambu town. It is the people of Kiambu who overwhelmingly said they wanted their county headquarters there because it is in a more central location.”

Area leaders have been squabbling over the location of the headquarters since last year with Kiambu MPs calling on Kabogo to respect the decision of the people to have the offices in the town. The governor is currently operating from Thika town where he, together with his deputy and Cabinet are housed.

Kabogo’s failure to honour summons by the Senate Committee on Finance to answer queries on the county’s finances contained in the Auditor General has also attracted some heat.

Speaking in Kimende shopping centre in Lari during the launch of bursary fund worth Sh157 million to help poor children pursue education, Kabogo accused National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale of mudslinging over his remarks that the Kiambu governor had refused to heed to the Senate’s summons. Duale is reported to have mentioned Kabogo’s name as one of the four governors who have refused to appear before the Senate to respond to queries on county finances.

Last week, Ng’ang’a backed Duale’s claims. “I support Duale. The money that the governors are given is neither theirs nor their relatives’. It belongs to Kenyans and they have to be accountable to them”.

And last Sunday, during a fund raiser in aid of a Seventh Day Adventist Church in Githurai that was presided over by Deputy President William Ruto, Kabogo publicly clashed with some local MPs over his failure to honour Senate summons.

The leaders told Kabogo   he had no choice but to avail himself before Senate Committee on Finance to respond to queries raised in the Auditor General’s report.