Wamatangi in fresh fight with Kiambu MCAs

Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi is facing rebellion from a section of MCAs barely three months since he assumed office.

Wamatangi appears to be facing rebellion even from UDA lawmakers who are the majority in the Kiambu assembly.

A section of MCAs have termed him as a dictator, who wants things done his way.

On Wednesday MCAs rejected five county executive nominees.

This is despite the assembly’s committee on appointments report approving all 10 cabinet nominees as suitable to serve in their respective dockets.

Wamatangi will now be expected to go back to the drawing board and appoint a new list to replace those affected.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Wamatangi pointed a finger to some politicians in the county who he said are positioning themselves for succession politics in 2027.

“It’s unfortunate to learn that people have already started positioning themselves to put hurdles in my government ahead of the 2027 election,” he said.

The governor however denied any bad blood with MCAs in the assembly.

“There’s no bad blood between me and the MCAs because our motive is to serve and deliver services to the people of Kiambu,” he said.

Wamatangi said Kiambu has been lagging in development for the last 10 years due to the constant wrangles between the MCAs and the executive.

He said both the executive and the assembly are autonomous and hence must exercise their mandates independently but fairly.

The county chief also told off his detractors, accusing them of being impatient with his administration.

Wamatangi recently narrated how a section of elected leaders in the assembly have nicknamed him all sort of names among them Mkono Ngamu (stingy man).

“They have nicknamed me all manner of names including ‘Mkono ngamu’ (stingy man) just because I blocked them from dipping their hands into public coffers,” he told his supporters in Kirigiti.

“I’ll however remain unmoved by their attacks so long as whatever we are doing is for the betterment of Kiambu electorates livelihoods.”

The governor told his supporters that a smear campaign has been launched to discredit and soil his name on social media platforms.

He however vowed to work together with all leaders for the benefit of Wanjiku.

Kiambu MCAs from different political parties had earlier vowed to support Wamatangi to develop the county.

Kiamwangi MCA Kung’u Smart told the Star that no one is fighting Wamatangi and MCAs are busy carrying out their oversight role.

He said some county executive nominees were rejected by the assembly because they lacked the basic know how and expertise to run the dockets they were appointed to lead.

The legislator further said the assembly and the executive will work in harmony to ensure that the voters get value of their leadership.

“The battle between Wamatangi and MCAs is just a creation of social media and we are ready to offer him the support that he deserve for the county to grow,” he said.

“We can’t afford to go back to the previous administration where fights between governor and MCAs were norms of the day.”

The MCA further denied allegations that the assembly speaker Charles Thiong’o is being used by the governor to push for his (Wamatangi) agenda.

Assembly chief whip Nelson Munga during the vetting of county executives had opposed the move to approve all the 10 nominees.

He demanded the MCAs to be furnished with the public appointment committee report before tabling the approval motion on the floor of the House.

“We are not robots. We can’t just flip through the order paper and then approve its content blindly,” Munga said.

Limuru Central MCA Nduta Mwongi had also said the approval of the executive members should not be treated as an emergency and assembly leaders must be given time to scrutinise them.

“How can you bring me a document with 10 names and tell me to take it as one motion? Bring me independent candidates so that I can then look at them individually,” Mwongi said.

Kiambu has 12 constituencies and 60 wards with the west constituencies comprising Limuru, Kiambu Town, Kiambaa, Kabete, Lari, Kikuyu and Githunguri.

Kiambu East has Thika Town, Juja, Ruiru, Gatundu South, and Gatundu North.

Political analyst Albert Kasembeli said Wamatangi should reach out to elected leaders across political divide and solve their differences.

“Where there is smoke, there must be fire. Wamatangi should stop blame games, reach out to all leaders and forge working unity,” he said.

Kasembeli warned that failure to adhere to the instructions and avoid interfering with assembly; he might face the same fate as Waititu and his Meru counterpart.

Kiambu assembly now joins Meru assembly as they also rejected the seven out of 10 county executive nominees presented by Governor Kawira Mwangaza.

They also vowed to impeach Mwangaza, accusing her of misusing her office.