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Kiraitu moves to quell Imenti South split controversy

 

Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi has moved to quell disquiet over the controversial splitting of Imenti South sub-county after he announced that the area is set to get two more such units.

The clamour for the subdivision of South Imenti constituency, the second most populous in Meru, has dragged on for years as leaders disagreed over how it should be split.

Several public participation forums did not help matters as two rival camps stood by their preferred boundary formula.

Last year, allies of Governor Murungi, included five MCAs and former chief of staff Gideon Kimathi, rallied for an east-west division while a rival group led by the South Imenti MP wanted the boundary to be based on the three main clans of Nkuene, Abogeta and Igoji.

Residents accused Governor Murungi of taking sides in the subdivision and stalling the process.

But the governor dismissed the claims: “There are too many lies, selfish propaganda and political blackmail on these issues.”

The dispute was eating into the governor’s critical support base as he seeks re-election, said journalist and political analyst Muthaura Njogu.

On Wednesday, the governor said he had lobbied Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and President Uhuru Kenyatta for the creation of three sub-counties in South Imenti constituency and two in North Imenti.

“I have always wished for unity in South Imenti. As a governor, I did not want to meddle in the conflict because I did not want to be seen to be taking sides in the clan politics,” Mr Murungi said.

“Two weeks ago, I decided to move in to fix the stalemate. I have met government officials who have assured me that the sub-counties will be gazetteed.”

He said the President had issued orders directing the Ministry of Interior to gazette Nkuene, Abogeta and Igoji sub-counties, as well as the Igoki division. “We are assured that in one week, the sub-counties will have been gazetted,” he said.

Mr Murungi accused Imenti South MP Kathuri Murungi of meddling in the process after tabling a public petition in Parliament on Tuesday.

“The MP should desist from the politics of lies. I decided to take over this matter to prevent clan politics taking precedence in the election,” the governor said.

The MP led residents in collecting signatures to petition the National Assembly over what they said was failure by the Ministry of Interior to create more sub-counties.

He accused the executive of shelving recommendations from a public participation forum that was called by the area deputy county commissioner.

“The delayed gazettement is due to conflict of interest by some leaders. We have 24,000 signatures supporting the sub-county petition while 6,000 others signed on the Igoki division. We expect the executive to act soon due to the pressure,” Mr Kathuri told Weru TV after tabling the petition.

The clamour for another sub-county in Imenti South started way back in 2010 but stalled in 2018 after residents demanded that the constituency be divided into three sub-counties.

But recent efforts to split the sub-county were hijacked by 2022 political interests as politicians haggled for boundaries that would favour their strongholds.     BY DAILY NATION    

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