Ngilu blames Uhuru and Ruto for water problem in Ukambani
Suspended Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu on Sunday hinted at leading a women-only revolution to protest against underdevelopment in Makueni, Kitui, and Machakos counties.
Ms Ngilu, who spoke after a Sunday service at St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Wote Town in Makueni County, singled out water scarcity and lack of mechanization in agriculture.
Ms Ngilu also claimed that President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto had failed to honor a pact she said she had entered with them before the 2013 General Elections to address water in the area.
She decried that since independence, successive regimes have not addressed water scarcity in the semi-arid Ukambani.
DEVOLVED GOVERNMENTS
“We should come together and revolt against the status quo and say that as women, we are tired of carrying water on our backs,” said Ngilu.
The event, which was also attended by Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana, Makueni Women Representative Rose Museo and Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo, culminated in a fundraiser to build a church block in the area.
At the same time, the one-time Water Minister blamed Ukambani leadership for failing to address mechanization in agriculture “as shown today by cases of farmers ploughing their farms using oxen-drawn ploughs instead than diesel-powered tractors.”
However, she said that the country had hope in county governments and called on governors to go out of their way and borrow money from elsewhere to substitute the little remitted to devolved governments by the national government.
GENERAL ELECTIONS
“You now have jobs to give the elites but to avoid condemning the uneducated to poverty, governors should go out and look for more money since the one coming from the national government will not be enough,” she said.
Ms Ngilu reiterated that she was in the race to unseat Kitui Governor Julius Malombe in next year’s General Elections.
On his part, Prof Kibwana gave the issues raised a wide berth citing a gag on politicking in that had been placed on the leaders by the priest in charge, Father Paul Munguti.
However, he said that he would defend his seat in next year’s General Elections. Prof Kibwana, who was elected on a Muungano Party ticket, said that the area was behind Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka in his bid for the Presidency.
