A five-hour meeting to bury the hatchet between Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu and MCAs in a Mwingi hotel ended without a breakthrough.
Ngilu met the MCAs who were led by their speaker, George Ndotto, at the hotel owned by the family of former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.
The meeting was in such a private set up that even the governor’s press service personnel were locked out, ostensibly to ensure candid discussion and any bitter words remained within the walls of the meeting hall.
Ngilu took advantage of the availability of all the MCAs, who were on an inspection tour of projects in Mwingi, and travelled from Kitui to meet them.
After the meeting, neither Ngilu nor Ndotto spoke to journalists who had camped outside, expecting a presser on the resolutions.
When approached, Ngilu directed the press to Ndotto, who was getting into his car. Ndotto said he was not in a position to talk, asking them to return to Ngilu for the briefing.
However, insider sources told the Star later that it was unanimously agreed that since no deal had been attained, no participant was allowed to speak to the media over the deliberations.
“The two leaders avoided the press because we did not reach any agreement. We will have to have follow-up meetings soon to attempt to break the ice. No party was willing to cede ground and the MCAs were firm not to compromise on their the oversight role,” the source said.
The simmering bad blood between the county executive led Ngilu and the MCAs culminated in the rejection of the supplementary budget on December 14. On the same day, the MCAs passed a motion to impeach Ngilu’s Treasury executive, Mary Nguli.
They have accused Narc leader Ngilu of skewed distribution of development projects to some wards, undertaking projects without budget and misuse of funds.
The governor, has denied claims, accusing the MCAs, mostly from Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper party, of a scheme to undermine her administration and “bring it to its knees”. She claimed they received instructions from Musyoka, a claim the the ward representatives have denied.
She accused Ndotto of seeking to settle political scores through instigating MCAs against her. The governor defeatedhim as Kitui Central MP in 1992 and has been a fierce political rival.
She has pledged to ask Kitui residents to vote out MCAs for blocking her from delivering her five-pillar pre-election agenda.
She claims that with the roadblocks being placed in her way by the MCAs, she would hardly deliver on her five-pillar pre-election agenda.