Why Ngilu party wants Kitui county government dissolved
The political standoff between Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and the county assembly worsened yesterday after Narc Party officials kicked off the process of dissolving the county government.
The move to collect signatures in the county’s 40 wards to petition President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve the county is running parallel to another initiative to recall Members of the County Assembly (MCAs).
The county assembly dominated by MCAs from Wiper Party have been at loggerheads with Governor Ngilu since she won the 2017 election, the latest being the rejection of her nominees to the county public service board.
According to acting Narc party chairman Militonic Kitute, Mrs Ngilu has endured untold blackmail from MCAs who have adopted a “party position” of rejecting the executive’s budget and legislative proposals year in year out.
Dissolving the county government was a necessary last resort solution to end the constant political wrangling between Mrs Ngilu and the MCAs and spare the residents further delays in service delivery, he said.
“The world knows how Wiper MCAs have frustrated Governor Ngilu since she took office. No budget has been passed on time, they have literally refused to pass crucial county bills and they want to blackmail her into implementing their own manifesto” he said.
The signature collection exercise has rekindled memories of the 2016 campaign to dissolve the neighbouring Makueni County, and comes only a week after Mrs Ngilu accused Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka of allegedly masterminding the unending wrangles between her and the county legislators.
Mr Kitute said the petition to President Kenyatta will give Kitui voters the final say on how to resolve the leadership crisis, because all efforts to dialogue with the MCAs have failed.
He explained that the rejection of county public service board nominees had seen national government post more than 150 health workers to Kitui last week, job vacancies which could have been filled by unemployed local youths.
Last week, Mrs Ngilu lamented that the Wiper MCAs have been using their numerical strength in the assembly, at the behest of Mr Musyoka, their party leader to frustrate her development agenda for Kitui people.
County Assembly Speaker George Ndotto who unsuccessfully tried to unseat Mrs Ngilu as MP for Kitui Central in four consecutive elections, declined to comment on the matter but his deputy Kasee Musya said the issues in contention can be resolved through dialogue.
Mr Musya, the Wiper MCA for Kisasi ward broke ranks with his party colleagues whom he blamed for “unnecessary brinkmanship” and holding the Governor to ransom.
“I belong to Wiper but I disagreed with party and voted for the Governor’s public service board nominees because I knew rejecting them amounted to denying Kitui youths jobs, which have now been lost” Mr Musya said.
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