Last week, Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana, while testifying before the commission looking into the possible dissolution of the county said that he could not reconcile with his enemies.
The governor who has been at loggerheads with Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) and Speaker Stephen Ngelu cited his alleged assassination attempt and constant budget stalemates between him and the MCAs as some of the grounds, which he could not work with the legislative arm of the government.
Kivutha’s sentiments over the wrangling that has threatened to scuttle devolution in the county, has elicited mixed reactions among residents of Makueni Facebook with a majority faulting the governor over his stance.
Those who have disagreed with the governor has termed his assertions as unfortunate and castigated him for the high handedness. They called on the governor to embrace reconciliation for the sake of development, failure to which he will have himself to blame for the poor track of development.
Others accused the governor and the speaker of holding the county government at ransom for their selfish gains noting that the county was bigger than any individual and they should step aside.
Some said that the Governor cannot choose who to work with or not.
Others reminded him on the biblical teachings of the need for forgiveness and asked the governor to emulate great leaders who forgave their enemies.
But there are those who rallied behind the governor.
The governor’s hard stance seems to have ruled out any possibility for reconciliation leaving dissolution as the only viable solution of the unending county wrangles. Although many residents had started casting doubts of the possibility of dissolution Kivutha’s sentiments could perhaps act as a stark reminder that dissolution is a reality.
The comments by the governor could also give the Mohammed Nyaoga- led commission a hard time in determining the best solution of the wrangling bearing in mind that the infighting has been as a result of personal wars rather than institutional conflicts.
While addressing journalists in Wote during the public hearings, Nyaoga said that dissolution of the county is one of the may solutions that the commission could recommend but disclosed that the probe team would sit down the two warring leaders to try and establish the root cause of the problem.
