Kirinyaga political battles escalate after mediation team rejected

The political fallout between Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and Members of County Assembly (MCAs) appear to be far from over.

The two arms of Kirinyaga County are locked in yet another battle following a botched attempt by the governor to constitute a mediation team to reconcile the MCAs and the executive.

And it appears that the ever recurrent issue of exclusion is once again being cited as the main cause of the current debacle that has kept the county in the headlines for weeks.

Current row

Ms Waiguru had issued a statement on Friday expressing her satisfaction on formation of a reconciliation team to mediate the two parties, but the move was opposed by the MCAs who described it as 'outrageous'.

The proposed team had Catholic Archbishop of Nyeri Anthony Muheria, former Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner General John Njiraini, Transport Principal Secretary Paul Maringa, Charles Ndegwa, a pastor in Mwea, another PS Mary Kimonye and former PS James Mathenge.

However, Waiguru's plan to seek alternative resolution strategy backfired after MCAs started another revolt forcing her, in another statement, to withdraw from the plan.

"The list of proposed names of the Kirinyaga Peace and Reconciliation team shared with the public on Friday is a proposal from Kirinyaga County Executive," the governor said yesterday.

"Having listened to the feedback shared on the above list and in consideration of the same, we wish to withdraw the proposed names to give room for further consultations," said the governor.

The MCAs led by Majority Leader James Murango and the assembly's lawyer Ndegwa Njiiru had castigated the move to form a reconciliation team, arguing that they did not have a personal dispute with the governor to necessitate a mediation process and instead their concerns were county's administrative issues.

Peace initiative

In her earlier statement on the proposed team, Waiguru had said that after extensive consultations on the need to refocus on service delivery, she welcomed the recommended peace initiative.

"I have accepted the following names of persons who have been proposed to oversee the peace and reconciliation process between the executive and the assembly," she said.

Some of the listed members claimed they were not consulted before their names were proposed. PS Kimonye declined to be part of the team, stating that she no longer resides in Kirinyaga.

County Assembly lawyer Njiru claimed most MCAs learnt of the peace initiative through social media.