• BBI task force has only confirmed sending technical experts to the Kitui meeting by governors.
• MPs allege Raila is using rally to settle political scores with Wiper leader Kalonzo.
Image: COURTESY
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Ukambani governors are on clash course over BBI sensitisation meetings.
Kalonzo has scheduled a BBI meeting in Wote town for February 7, while Governors Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni), Charity Ngilu (Kitui) and Alfred Mutua (Machakos) will have theirs on Saturday next week.
The two meetings – though meant to popularise the same cause – have been planned a week apart.
Some of the Wiper leader's lieutenants claim that ODM boss Raila Odinga has a hand in parallel BBI meetings.
Already, the Kalonzo group is mobilising residents to turn up for the Wote rally. His associates accuse President Uhuru Kenyatta's handshake buddy Raila of hiding behind the BBI campaigns to divide Ukambani.
Lawmakers from the region told the Star that the ODM leader is using Ngilu’s camp to settle political scores with Kalonzo who was recently linked to a possible alliance with Deputy President William Ruto.
If BBI is not meant to bring people together let us be told, we cannot have two rallies.Daniel Maanzo, MP Makueni
Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo said Raila should stop meddling with Ukambani political leadership and concentrate on pushing for unity which is the main objective of the initiative.
He accused the former Prime Minister of undermining the Kamba political leadership.
“The rally is being organised by Kalonzo but I understand Raila is pretending to appoint Ngilu. Raila should avoid directing us here in Ukambani,” Maanzo said.
“We will go to Mombasa and we are inviting everyone to Wote. If BBI is not meant to bring people together let us be told, we cannot have two rallies.”
Mwala's Vincent Musyoka claimed that the three governors are receiving instructions from Raila "who is out to whittle down Kalonzo’s grip of the region".
“The governors are now being used by Raila to prove a point, you understand that every other day Kalonzo is drifting away from Raila and he (Raila) thinks he can replace him with Mutua and the other governors,” the lawmaker told the Star.
“BBI is politics; there is nothing about changing the lives of Kenyans. Let nobody think they (the three governors) are going to educate Kenyans on pertinent issues. It is a way of creating their political niche in Ukambani.”
The BBI task force has confirmed it is sending technical experts to the Kitui meeting in its first communication since it was gazetted to steer the second phase of the exercise.
“The steering committee will send members and its trained technical experts to all forums it agrees to attend so that they can explain the contents of the report and respond to queries raised by participants,” joint secretaries Martin Kimani and Paul Mwangi said in a statement.
“This will be the case for the upcoming delegates' conferences organised by the governors of the Coast region on January 24 in Mombasa and the one in Kitui on February 1 organised by the governors from the region.”
The task force, however, said it will be open to an invitation from any other organised meetings to have a robust discussion on the document.
Wiper Executive Director Jared Siso blames the steering committee led by Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji for failure to show leadership and allowing politicians hijack the meetings.
“I think the task force has been rendered impotent in the discharge of their duties and now the political class is dictating the direction which the forums are being conducted,” Siso told the Star on the phone.
Edited by R.Wamochie