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One of the petitioners into the possible dissolution of Makueni County has said that supremacy battles between the Governor Kivutha Kibwana and Speaker Stephen Ngelu are the root cause of incessant infighting in the county.
Mobilization Agency for Paralegal Communities in Africa (MAPACA) Programs officer Antonny Ndolo, said the leaders were sworn enemies who cannot work together to advance devolution hence the need for dissolution of the county government.
The human rights activist told the Mohammed Nyaoga -led inquiry commission currently holding its sittings in Wote that the bad blood between the speaker and the governor had irretrievably broken the county government into two parallel entities rendering the government completely dysfunctional.
“We have two governments one led by Kivutha and the other led by Ngelu making it difficult for the county government to discharge its constitutional mandate,” said Ndolo.
Ndolo added that the speaker and the governor since the initiation of devolution had been trying to outdo each other in power battles at the expense of development in the county.
He further told the commission that the impeachment of the governor initiated by the speaker escalated the wrangles and efforts by different parties to reconcile the leaders had hit a snag.
The human rights activist confession that the supremacy battles were to blame for the wrangles that took a violent turn after six people were shot and seriously injured drew the attention of the commission with the chair Nyaoga asking the petitioner to suggest an alternative solution to the wrangling other than dissolution.
The petitioner however steered clear of offering an alternative solution to the county woes but suggested that the impeachment process of a Governor be altered to include public participation.
“In the Makueni scenario the governor was impeached by only 32 MCAs while he was elected by more than 140,000 residents whose contribution should have been considered,” said Ndolo.
He also suggested that education level for MCAs be raised to include post primary qualification noting that most of the MCAs in the county assembly were semi-literate and could not fully understand the roles of the county assembly.
“Most of the MCAs just rubber stamps what the speaker tells them, they don’t know what to do,” he said.
The commission chair while addressing the press in Wote called on residents to take advantage of the public hearings and turn out in large numbers to present their views.
Nyaoga added that after the public hearings in Wote which is the county headquarters, the commission will move to sub county levels.
