Fire in Kirinyaga as Kibicho scolds Waiguru over a Sh15b project
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has responded fiercely to Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho for accusing her of sabotaging the construction of a medical research facility in Mwea.
On Friday, the PS who hails from Kirinyaga claimed that Waiguru had declined to transfer a 100-acre parcel of land in Mwea to KEMRI out of 'sheer stupidity'.
Kenya Medical Research Instutute (KEMRI) intends to use the said land for research.
How it all began
Kemri began develop the said piece of land to construct a Ksh15 billion health and research facility but was stopped by a court order.
In 2019 October, Waiguru's deputy Peter Ndambiri said his boss was yet to okay the transfer of land to Kemri because the institute bluntly refused to enter into an agreement with the governor.
“KEMRI is not willing to enter into an agreement with Governor Waiguru’s administration. That is why the title deed [of the Wamumu land in Mwea] hasn’t been handed over to it,” Ndambiri said while addressing Kirinyaga residents at Riandira Primary School during the 2019 Mashujaa Day celebrations.
The project
According to Kemri, the project comprises of a Level Five hospital, university, a medical supplies factory and a medical research center at Wamumu area in Mwea, all valued at Ksh15 billion.
Kemri went to court in 2019 seeking to nullify an earlier court order that had stopped construction works through a suit on environmental grounds.
In the suit, the plaintiff (Leonard Kuria) named Kemri and Kirinyaga Government as the first and second respondents respectively.
Kuria argued that Kemri did not conduct a public participation as the law stipulates.
Kibicho rebuked Waiguru accusing her of sabotaging the project.
“The governor’s decision to sabotage the project is sheer stupidity that should not be allowed to continue,” Kibicho said Friday while monitoring the progress of development projects in Mwea Constituency.
Wiaiguru to Kibicho
On Sunday, Waiguru said that the project was yet to considert the interests of her Kirinyaga electorates through a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU).
In her response, Waiguru wondered if Kibicho had personal interests in the project and advised him to resign if he wanted to engage in 'village politics'.
