- Waiguru in a local press, accused the committee of sidelining her in the preparations of the event.
- Governor said she had no say and that the county commissioner was the one running the show.
The national celebrations committee has told off Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru for alleging that her administration has been given a wide berth in the preparation of the upcoming Mashujaa Day fete.
Committee chair Karanja Kibicho says he was surprised by Waiguru’s remarks after having worked together with her administration to pull through a successful event.
Waiguru in a local press, accused the committee of sidelining her in the preparations of the event, adding that she had no say and that the county commissioner was the one running the show.
She further expressed her dissatisfaction saying the county leadership was given 150 sitting slots at the Wang’uru stadium during the Mashujaa fete.
However, on Sunday, Kibicho termed her sentiments unfortunate and said local politics was being played to discredit the hard and gruelling task that has been achieved by his committee.
The Interior PS said they even involved the county government and local administrators in getting the list of residents who have since been issued with invitation cards to attend the event.
“In all the preparation meetings we have held, we have been involving the county government because they have their cut out roles as far as the national day preparations are concerned. The county representatives have been attending all our meetings and have been giving their input."
“We even helped them to partner with our administrators in bid to get us names of the residents to attend the event because they are better versed with all the areas in the county,” he said.
The PS however, reiterated that all the 2,000 residents who shall attend the event will come from all the sublocations across the county.
He said the occasion presents them an opportunity to have a feeling of a national day celebration.
“Every sublocation shall have representatives in the stadium. The criteria used in selecting the individuals was fair so that we could achieve equal representation.”
The PS was speaking in Mwea during the final event dubbed "Kirinyaga Kwanza". The event has been carried out in all the four constituencies over the past one month and has seen local leaders urging residents to maintain peace and order during the event.
Kirinyaga Woman Rep Wangui Ngirici told resident to shun those inciting them to cause chaos.
She urged them to borrow a leaf from ODM leader Raila Odinga's last week’s peaceful visit to Eldoret which is the political back yard for deputy president William Ruto and who is Raila's political competitor.
“Raila was in Eldoret and he was surprisingly welcomed and allowed to sell his agenda. That is the unity we as Kirinyaga people need to embrace. It will not benefit us if we shout down our own in the presence of dignitaries.
“Let us maintain peace and above all halt all political campaigns in readiness for the day. We shall continue with politics after October 21,” she said.
-Edited by SKanyara