Waiguru: Why I skipped Ruto’s event in Mwea
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has denied snubbing a fundraising event attended by Deputy President William Ruto at a school in Mwea on Saturday.
Only Kirinyaga Woman Representative Purity Ngirici, four Members of County Assembly, area MP Kabinga Wachira, former Senator Daniel Karaba and former County Assembly Speaker Anne Githinji attended the event at Karoti Girls High School.
Senator Charles Kibiru, Deputy Governor Peter Ndambiri and MPs Robert Gichimu (Gichugu), John Munene (Kirinyaga Central) and George Macharia (Ndia) were also absent.
“My office and majority of the leaders did not have any communication from the Deputy President on his intended visit to Kirinyaga as has been the practice in previous visits. We would have expected the officers in charge to make the necessary arrangements with local leadership and communicate accordingly. Why the decision was made to bypass protocol is open for debate,” Governor Waiguru told the Nation.
She said, until the last minute, DP Ruto’s presence at the event had not been confirmed as he had sent someone else (Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa) to represent him.
WAIGURU’S APOLOGY
Mr Wamalwa had arrived around 2pm to represent Mr Ruto, who later turned up past 5pm on Saturday.
“The Kirinyaga County government has had nothing but reverence in previous occasions where we have hosted Mr Ruto. We are surprised at yesterday’s (Saturday’s) turn of events but we will steer clear of speculation,” added Governor Waiguru.
However, in his speech, the Deputy President gave Ms Waiguru’s apology and even presented the governor’s donation of Sh200,000.
Kirinyaga County Assembly Leader of Majority James Kamau Mulango said the county government was not invited at the DP’s event due to supremacy battles between the governor and Woman Rep Purity Ngirici.
He also said that most leaders missed the event because they were not formally informed about the Deputy President’s visit.