The responsibility of ensuring Kitui county reaps the full benefits of devolution rests on the shoulders of Governor Charity Ngilu and assembly speaker George Ndotto, a primate said on Saturday.
Former ACK archbishop Benjanin Nzimbi regretted that competing interests between the executive and assembly were detrimental to development.
He said the two leaders had no choice but to do everything to end the rift between the executive and the assembly as the county’s hope for development depended solely on them.
“I am emphasizing that disunity is detrimental. It militates against development and the full benefits of devolution. The two of you must cultivate unity between the executive and the assembly,” Nzimbi said.
The clergyman spoke at Unyaa Primary School in Kitui Central subcounty on Saturday during the funeral for county assembly principal finance officer Algustus Musembi Musyoka. He died at Nairobi Hospital from complications resulting from a road accident.
Nzimbi paraded Ngilu, Ndotto and MCAs present before the crowd of mourners and prayed for them to embrace unity. He then sprinkled the leaders with holy water.
He said for Kitui county to prosper leaders must work together. He said there are many ways to resolve differences. “We need to see unity in diversity and unite for the sake of development as leaders,” the prelate said.
Nzimbi said the leaders had a duty to work for the good of the people of Kitui. He added that the clergy was ready to mediate reconciliation between the two arms of Kitui government.
“Ndotto, you were my schoolmate and Charity you are our child. Our MCAs, you belong to different political parties but when it comes to development you must unite, as wrangling will have adverse results,” he said.
The clash between Ngilu and MCAs deepened after a report by an assembly committee on the fire that gutted down the county treasury on August 22 cited Ngilu as a person of interest.
The report presented to the assembly last Thursday by committee chairman Antony John suggested that Ngilu and her former executive for treasury Mary Ngilu had questions to answer.
On Saturday, Ngilu told reporters that the report was the work of people seeking relevance and she would not wish to react to it. the assembly starts debating it on Tuesday.
Should the MCAs adopt the report, it will worsen the frosty relationship between Ngilu and the assembly.
