- He said that there are roles defined for first ladies but first gentlemen are being ignored.
- The governor said Kenyans need to respect the place of family for elected leaders.
Image: FILE
Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi has disagreed with the idea that spouses of elected officials should fade away.
The governor was referring to the case of Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza who has been on the spot for appointing her spouse Murega Baichu as county Youth Patron and hustler's ambassador.
Baichu was also faulted for attending county meetings and issuing directives.
Speaking on Thursday, Wamatangi said the Meru governor and her husband can still go together to functions as couples do.
“If Mwangaza’s style and her husband was by doing everything together, that shouldn’t change just because she was elected. We should look at foreign leaders who go with their spouses to major functions,” he said in an interview at Citizen TV.
“In the case of Barrack Obama even when he was addressing major functions of congress, his wife was present and she would even get an opportunity to address the nation and that is how she made her name.”
He said that there are roles defined for first ladies but first gentlemen are being ignored.
“The first ladies are expected to do certain things, they are welcomed in functions and they are respected but first gentlemen tend to get the rougher side of it,” he said.
The governor said Kenyans need to respect the place of family for elected leaders.
The Meru governor, however, denied claims of employing her husband.
Mwangaza said her husband volunteered to be the youth patron to assist the young people to develop their talents in music and arts.
“This is a charitable position that does not in any way interfere with the running of the county departments and it is not true that he has been attending official county meetings,” the governor said.