• Nkedianye tells press conference that when he was governor, medical staff was motivated, drugs were available in all public hospitals.
• Lenku says a plan was hatched to throw him out in the nominations stage and give Nkedianye the ticket. That's why I was advised to move to ODM, he says.
Image: KURGAT MARINDANY
Former Kajiado Governor David Nkedianye has blamed bad governance for failed medical services and infrastructure and has promised to fix them if elected county boss.
He is running again and said he will not obey ODM and Jubilee and step down for incumbent Governor Joseph ole Lenku.
He told a press conference on Sunday that when he was governor, the medical staff was motivated and drugs were available in all public hospitals.
The current administration has failed to pay its debts at Kemsa, failed to pay suppliers of oxygen in all health facilities and now the sick are forced to seek medical care outside the county, he said.
“What do you expect when the system has no regard for her workers, the voters of Kajiado, and the taxpayers who pay for services that cannot be delivered?” Nkedianye asked.
He dismissed Lenku’s claim last week that he was pushed by the people of Kajiado to move to the ODM soon after he (Nkedianye) had Jubilee face him in the nominations.
“Nobody pushed Lenku but the fears that I would have trounced him in the nominations. All along, Lenku never wanted joint nominations within the Azimio la Umoja coalition,” Nkedianye said.
Lenku said, however, one official of Jubilee joined hands with others to frustrate him in Jubilee.
“A plan was hatched to throw me out in the nomination stage to give another person (Nkedianye) the party’s ticket, Lenu said. "That is the reason my people advised me to move to ODM."
Nkedianye on Sunday said he moved to Jubilee to face Lenku in the nominations after it became clear the county had been zoned and given to Jubilee.
He said Narok had been handed over to ODM by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
The former governor dismissed claims that his entry into the gubernatorial race will divide the county down clan lines.
He said Lenku belongs to the 'black' cows (Orokiteng’ clan), while he comes from the 'red' cows clan (Odomong’i), who jointly voted for him as governor in 2013.
“We are both campaigning for Raila in the Azimio, but are rivals in the gubernatorial race," Nkedianye said.
"Lenku's 'black' cow clan members will vote for me in Kajiado because when I left office in 2017, street lights in all the urban towns had never been disconnected, medicine was available in all the hospitals, while all the county employees received their dues on time,” he said.
He said once elected he will revive sports, hand over contracts to the youth, women, and people living with disabilities, without looking at their backgrounds or where they come from.
“Once elected, I will bring all those who voted for me, those who voted otherwise to my round table and work together for the stability of the region,” he said.
Nkedianye said when he was governor, revenue collection steadily rose, water supply to residents was satisfactory, until Lenku arrived and worked "very hard to bring them down”.
“How does Lenku explain why salaries of staff and all county employees are delayed for months? Why are suppliers not being paid with a budget of more than Sh10 billion? And I was working on a lean budget of Sh5 billion?”Nkedianye asked.
Lenku blamed the national Treasury in disbursing cash to the counties, which hurt service delivery."
(Edited by V. Graham)