Irene Githinji and James Murimi @PeopleDailyKe
It was a rare closing of ranks between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga who spoke in one voice during the funeral of former Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua yesterday as they criticised MCAs for abusing their mandate.
The high octane campaign mode pitting Uhuru’s Jubilee Party and Raila’s Nasa axis did not feature between them at the funeral in Hiriga village, Mathira, Nyeri, as they steered clear of politics and dwelt, at large, on the dos and don’ts of the devolution process.
Some leaders from the region, who had spoken earlier, had set the stage for political broadsides as they urged the Nyeri people to support Uhuru for a second term, but the President and Raila appeared spontaneously keen to avoid a duel and instead mourn the late governor.
Even Deputy President William Ruto, often a sparring opponent of Raila, was mellow and did not drop a single jibe as he respectfully addressed the former Prime Minister.
Raila set the tone against the MCAs when he hit out at their habit of travelling on extravagant foreign trips, ostensibly for “bonding or bench-marking”.
“How do you go to bond out there, you should bond with your wife at home” he said amid laughter. Raila said too much money was deployed to unproductive trips at the expense of projects that are key to devolution as he told MCAs to stop “blackmailing and intimidating” governors.
“There were so many trips by the MCAs with no benefit and Gachagua said he would rather be impeached rather than giving in to blackmail. These are some of the things we need to deal with.”
Raila criticised MCAs for costing counties a lot of public funds in bribes and favours from governors in exchange for their support in running the county governments.
Uhuru first acknowledged that he was in agreement with Raila on devolution. “I realise Gachagua has caused me to agree with Raila. It is a historic day indeed.
We must know leadership bestowed on us must not be used in ways that do not benefit the people.” “I also agree with Raila oversight means you guard your resources from being stolen, not a change in agenda.
I want to urge Nyeri MCAs to pass the pending budget so that Governor Samuel Wamathai can complete the work Gachagua began,” he said to a round of applause.
He said governors must be allowed to see through their promise to the electorate, since that is the mandate they have received from the people.
The President said the differences among leaders in counties should not be allowed to hinder development, noting it was wrong for MCAs to disrespect manifestoes of governors instead of giving them time to execute their vision.
Most of the Nyeri MCAs who had been opposing Gachagua made good their threat to keep off the funeral as only a handful of them were present.
Governor Wamathai had hurled the first salvo at the MCAs when he urged them to speedily approve the county’s supplementary budget for Financial Year 2017/18.
“You will face the wrath of the people if you fail to approve this budget because the money belongs to the people of Nyeri,” he warned. Gachagua’s burial was attended by, among others, 35 governors, a couple of deputy governors, a host of MPs, MCAs and retired President Kibaki.
Gachagua passed away on February 24 while undergoing pancreatic cancer treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. He was 64 years old.
He leaves behind two widows Margret Nyokabi and Margaret Waithegeini, who eulogised the governor was a father figure whom they will miss dearly.
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