Governor orders staff to operate from head office

Civil servants seconded to the devolved government who will not have reported to the Tharaka Nithi County headquarters at Kathwana Market by the end of this month will be sacked, Governor Samuel Ragwa has warned.

Ragwa said the officials were operating from Chuka town claiming that there was no office space in Kathwana. “I started operating from a tent in Kathwana Market after being sworn in last year and have never turned back. Who are you not to report for duty in this place where your services are needed?” he posed.

The tough-talking Mr Ragwa, who was speaking during Madaraka Day celebrations at Kathwana Stadium on Sunday, said although the place did not have all the necessary facilities, it was still the county’s headquarters.

National Youth Leadership Forum chairperson Paul Mugambi, who accompanied Ragwa, expressed concern over the rundown state of the stadium, which he said did not even have toilets.

Basic amenities

Mr Mugambi said some Chinese investors who had accompanied him to the venue for the Madaraka Day fete had to leave after realising it lacked basic amenities.

“These investors want to set up three information communication technology centres. This is a wake-up call for us to put up at least some basic facilities,” Mugambi said.

Ragwa said the market would soon have piped water, adding that a physical plan for development of an urban centre was already in place.

Senator Kithure Kindiki, who was also present, said he would be seeking more funds for the county, which he claimed had been marginalised for a long time.

He said the area also urgently required relief food after it experienced massive crop failure in the last planting season.

“I am appealing to the national government to start relief food distribution to save our people from imminent starvation following the scarce rain this season, which led to poor yields,” he said.

County Commissioner Christopher Musumbu said they had started distributing the relief food, but said lack of transport had slowed down the exercise.“We have already started distributing food to the affected parts, especially the outlying zones, but lack of transport is our main challenge,” Mr Musumbu said.

Meanwhile, Murang’a Majority Leader Peter Kihungi has tabled before the county assembly the names of four nominees for the position of chief officer.

fate of candidates

This is after Members of the County Assembly demanded to know the fate of the chief officers interviewed for the positions in December last year.

Candidates picked by the County Public Service Board include Joseph Mbai (Health and Water Services), Peter Mburu (Agro-Marketing), Njoroge Kamau (Transport and Infrastructure) and James Maina (Lands and Planning).

“The executive has forwarded the names of the nominees who will be in charge of the four ministries in the county,” said Mr Kihungi.

Last week, Kihungi informed the assembly that only a handful of candidates expressed interest in the positions hence the need to re-advertise the vacancies.

“There is a feeling that the posts should be re-advertised as there are more departments in the devolved systems than the applications received by the board,” said Kihungi.

Additional report by Boniface Gikandi