Nyoro attacks Kimunya over development funds
Kiambu governor James Nyoro yesterday castigated National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya over his remarks that the government will withdraw funds earmarked for development in Kiambaa constituency if voters fail to elect the Jubilee Party candidate Kariri Njama.
Nyoro distanced the Kiambu Jubilee team from the remarks, which he termed as ‘unfortunate and uncalled for’ and challenged Kimunya to withdraw them.
“The statement was unfortunate and we are not going to be subjected to threats. It was a personal view and not a government policy and we condemn it,” said Nyoro at the Kiambu County headquarters where he hosted his Machakos counterpart Alfred Mutua who had paid him a courtesy call.
Headquarters disorganising
The governor also accused Jubilee headquarters of disorganising the Kiambaa campaigns by setting up several command centres.
“I want to be very categorical and state that the things we have started seeing is not something we can encourage.
I appeal to the party that as they are organising the campaigns, we should be involved,” he said.
He added: “We want to have one command centre and you cannot exclude the governor from the command centre.
You saw on Sunday someone deciding who was going to address the voters and who not to.”
Reliable sources indicated that there’s a supremacy war between Kimunya and Limuru MP Peter Mwathi over who is will be tasked to manage campaigns funds.
On Sunday, Kimunya warned Kiambaa voters to elect a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate Njuguna Wanjiku at their own peril. His statement ruffled feathers among locals who likened it to Kanu era politics.
Kimunya told them not to expect any development project in the area if they fail to elect Njama claiming that Juja residents were already regretting for electing an opposition MP.
“If you don’t elect him, the Sh2 billion set aside for rehabilitation of roads in the area will become history. More over, if you elect an opposition MP, I will not allocate him any parliamentary committee and the same date has befallen the Juja MP George Koimburi,” he said.
Kimunya who was flanked by Nyoro and several MPs including Mwathi, Swarup Mishra(Kesses), Jude Njomo, Ngunjiri Wambugu (Nyeri) and Ruth Mwaniki (Kigumo) spoke at Gacii ACK church in Kiambaa during a funds drive before officially launching Njama’s by elections campaigns.
Yesterday, Nyoro said that all indications are that Kariri will win the Kiambaa seat during the by election which is slated for July 15 adding that he is the most popular contestant.
Momentum overdrive
However, he observed that jubilee should work overdrive in order to maintain the momentum and contain the apparent aggressive UDA onslaught.
Mutua urged voters in Kiambaa and Muguga to elect Jubilee candidates as an appreciation for the vast development record President Uhuru Kenyatta has displayed.
“You should not take the development that Uhuru has done for you for granted. You should show gratitude by supporting him “ said Mutua.
But Njama said that he has all along advocated for campaign by locals who are conversant with the grassroot political dynamics.
“The Sunday event was convened by the national jubilee office but we are now back to the ground conducting aggressive door to door campaigns which are very fruitful,” he told People Daily.
