Kisii leaders defend Arati against Onyoka's tirade

@magatinews 

Some Kisii MPs have come out to defend Governor Simba Arati from Senator Richard Onyonka's attacks.

They termed the attacks as childish and lacking substance. 

The leaders said raw greed and petty rivalry fuels vendetta on Arati's administration.

They said Arati cozying up to President William Ruto is the primary source of conflict between the governor and Onyonka. 

"But we must decide that this is not good for our people. We have to put our political differences aside and pull together," Bobasi MP Innocent Obiri said.

He said it is unethical for Onyonka to bring his legislative function to marketplaces in his Kitutu region. 

Similar sentiments were echoed by Deputy Governor Robert Monda and Nyaribari Chache MP Zaheer Jhanda.

Bomachoge Borabu and Bomachoge Chache MP's Alfa Miruka and Obadiah Barongo did not comment on the governor's troubles. 

However, Governor Arati said he will continue to bulldoze unbowed with the reforms he has already set. 

"The staff audit must go on so that I can know the right team, which I should work with. We cannot entrust money to people with no proper credentials, we will lose it," he said. 

Arati further said the push for the release of donor funds, which his predecessor had secured, is the source of fractured ties with his political friends. 

"These people want to go to any lengths, to ensure this money will not come," he said.

The county boss was referring to a negotiated deal of half a trillion grant from the United Kingdom, the bulk of which will be used in setting up a large medical facility in Kisii. 

He spoke at Ogembo Town after the signing of a charter granting the town an upgrade to municipal status.

Arati said his woes have everything to do with petty political battles and not his style of governorship. 

MCAs and MPs present castigated Onyonka for leading a group of MP's Sylivanus Osoro (South Mugirango), Anthony Kibagendi (Kitutu Chache South), and Japhet Nyakundi (Kitutu Chache North) to rail the governor.

 The Catholic church in Kisii has since backed them in the offensive. 

Last Saturday, Onyonka scaled up his attacks saying his gripe with Arati is purely about his management style and him sidelining other regions, especially Kitutu Chache during appointments. 

Arati, however, said his fast-deteriorating relationship with Senator Onyoka is resource fuelled. 

"There is nothing else to explain why I am being fought left, right and center," he told residents at Ogembo. 

He said there is the demonic zeal to thwart the half a trillion from the UK and thus brand him a failure. 

MPs Innocent Obiri (Bobasi) and Zaheer Jhanda (Nyaribari Chache) also ganged up to bash Onyonka. 

They termed Onyonka's lectures on the governor a heap of vendetta 

MCAs present also told Onyonka and company to leave Arati alone. 

They said Onyonka and his band are not genuine with their lamentations. 

The leaders said Onyonka had been feeling edgy since Arati moved to mend his ties with President William Ruto. 

"The governor is mandated to work with the government of the day and this should not make anybody edgy. We must all support his endeavor rather than rolling up our sleeves to fight him," Obiri said. 

The MP further accused Onyonka and group of dragging his legislative function to the markets in his native Kitutu region instead of undertaking it in the Senate chambers where voters sent him too. 

Jhanda vowed not to back down from supporting the governor in accelerating his development agenda. 

"I have made up my mind to work with you and no amount of persuasion is going to convince me otherwise," he said. 

Ward reps led by MCA Richmond Manani (Bogeka,  Onyonka's backyard) said the people of Kitutu Chache cannot afford to sever their relationship with the governor at a time like this. 

"That will be suicidal, we must work with him at all costs," he said. 

Arati 's deputy Robert Monda said politics is a vast market with its fair share of madmen.