The political feud between Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and his deputy James Nyoro started a few months into their election.
Since then, the two leaders have been throwing barbs at each other, leading to a public showdown before Deputy President William Ruto late last year.
Waititu fired the first salvo during a church function when he stood to introduce his deputy.
“Let me now introduce my deputy who is Nyoro, although he scolds me a lot,” Waititu said during the service attended by Ruto.
Stung by Waititu’s words, Nyoro did not mince his words when he stood to speak.
He used the opportunity to express his displeasure at his boss for what he termed washing dirty linen in public.
“Deputy President, sometimes you tell us that there are some small issues which should not be put out to the public and I did not think my governor would spill the small issues in Kiambu to the public, but it is ok,” Nyoro said.
There has been a rift in the Kiambu government leadership with Waititu and Nyoro’s disagreements.
Before being elected, Waititu made a pact with five others to form a formidable force dubbed United for Kiambu which ousted former governor Wiliam Kabogo.
This was after five aspirants came together and ganged up against then governor Kabogo.
The five were Waititu, Bishop David Gakuyo, Nyoro, John Mugwe and Acquiline Njoki.
Despite Waititu being famous, it took long for a deal to be struck as the governor’s academic qualifications were being questioned.
Gakuyo the financier
Deputy Governor James Nyoro - an economist by profession - ran for the seat in 2013, but came a distant second to Kabogo.
He was roped in to back Waititu’s candidature.
Nyoro previously served as Ruto’s adviser on food security.
At some point during the negotiations, Waititu was accused of hurriedly giving a TV interview calling himself the Jubilee candidate even before a deal was reached.
This did not go down well with the other four principals who denied ever agreeing that Waititu was to lead the team and considered him untrustworthy.
It took the intervention of other Kiambu leaders to broker a deal which made Waititu carry the mantle.
It was then agreed that Nyoro was to be the deputy governor while Gakuyo, Mugwe and Njoki were to be awarded senior positions once they were voted in.
Mugwe was awarded with the Roads executive job, but was transferred to the Water docket before he was finally sacked.
Njoki was made a member of the County Service Board job, a position she still holds.
There have been claims the root of the problem is a disagreement over power sharing between Waititu, Nyoro and Gakuyo.
They were supposed to share government positions on a 30-30-40 per cent formula.
Gakuyo was to get more spots because he was the main financier of the campaigns.
Gakuyo was the only principal who was not given an executive job, but was instead handed an appointment letter as a political and economic advisor to the governor.
“Only a fool can ignore me in this government, even though I was not given a position, I am the adviser to the governor,” he said then.
Waititu and Nyoro have openly argued over the management of the county leading to an incident at the county headquarters last year which also involved an exchange of blows.
During the swearing-in of executives, Waititu publicly confirmed he was at loggerheads with Nyoro sometimes.
He, however, warned the public not to interfere.
“Me, Nyoro and Gakuyo will work as a team although we will disagree, afterwards, we agree. Even people disagree with their wives and later they move on. But do not step in. You watch from afar. Even during campaigns we did it that way,” Waititu said.
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