Kiambu CEC voted out for disrespecting Nyoro, incompetence

Kiambu county assembly has voted to remove Youth and Sports executive Karungo Thangwa from office over incompetence, abuse of office and misconduct claims. 

The motion was moved by nominated MCA Njeri Bakari and seconded by her Ndenderu counterpart Solomon Kinuthia. Of 53 MCAs present, only two opposed the motion. They were Lucy Njoki (nominated) and Macharia Taki  (Witeithie).

Thirty-nine members did not attend the sitting. The assembly formed a five-member team to investigate the claims and come up with a report within 10 days. It will make recommendations and present them to the house. If adopted, the report will be forwarded to the ‘acting Governor’ James Nyoro to sign so the executive is relieved of his duties.

The MCAs accused Thangwa of sleeping on the job since he was appointed to head the docket. They said he has presided over irregularities and has not protected the public interest in the management of resources.

Majority leader Gideon Gachara told the members that Thangwa is disrespectful to ‘acting Governor’ Nyoro and does not attend County Executive Committee meetings, hence his department has not been allocated any development money.

“I’m a member of the sectoral Committee on Youths and Sports. We’ve tried to salvage the situation in the department, but what the CEC has done is move from one mess to another. The CEC has become a public relations perfectionist with nothing to show on the ground,” he said.

Gachara said Thangwa is incompetent, adding he failed to advise Governor Ferdinand Waititu properly on how to ensure residents benefit from Jijenge Fund. No one has got the cash even though loan forms had been distributed two years ago, he said, adding the money is returned to the Treasury every year.

“Every year the Jijenge Fund is allocated Sh100 million, yet no youth or Kiambu resident has ever benefitted,” Gachara said.

The MCAs accused Thangwa of launching a fancy Kiambu County Supercup Football Tournament, which “never achieved anything” even though a lot of funds were used.

Njeri said the department unnecessarily spent Sh1,915,500 on the launch. She said many youths were disappointed after attending the event the whole day without food. She said the youths were not reimbursed their fares as was promised.

However, Thangwa defended the tournament, saying it was conducted covered live by the media and met acceptable standards. He said the money spent was less than that used for other county functions.

Also, he was criticised for overseeing a driving programme with Petanns Driving School two years ago. The MCAs said 1,200 youths were trained but have never been awarded licences, despite Petanns having received full payments.

But Njoki, while opposing the motion, said there was no evidence to back the claims.“It’s good for a motion to be brought forth but this is not in order since there was no evidence brought forward to substantiate the allegations the CEC is facing,” she said.

Mover Bakari, however, dismissed Njoki’s position, saying she had provided a lot of evidence. 

“I have undergone a lot of problems while trying to get evidence to back the motion before the House, including recording a statement with the police after my life was threatened. This is not a witch-hunt. It's sad to see our youth being taken for a ride by one person. It's high time we cracked the whip,” she said.

(Edited by F'Orieny)