Kiambu Deputy Governor James Nyoro has flown members of the county executive and the assembly to Mombasa for a retreat in a bid to woo their support amid supremacy battle pitting him against his boss Kiambu Governor Ferdinard Waititu.
The Nation has reliably learnt that the MCAs left for Mombasa last week on Sunday and were joined by county executive committee members on Thursday this week in what participants termed as a meeting “to discuss development issues in Kiambu”.
Mr Simon Ng’ang’a, Mr Nyoro’s personal assistant, Thursday confirmed that the team is in Mombasa, but without divulging further details.
“The deputy governor is in Mombasa with majority of county assembly members and the executive … The deputy governor would be the best person to give you the nature of the meeting they are having and expected outcomes,” Mr Nga’ng’a said on phone.
Githothua MCA Daniel Kaberi confirmed that the meeting was on, and that he was flying out Thursday evening to join his colleagues in Mombasa.
“It’s more of a management meeting on how to work together with the deputy governor,” he said.
Roads, Transport, Public Works and Energy Executive Juliet Kimemia said she would be flying to Mombasa today for the meeting.
“It’s an engagement meeting between the legislative and executive to discuss development issues in Kiambu,” she said.
Efforts to reach Mr Nyoro and Speaker Stephen Ndichu for comment were unsuccessful as they did not respond to calls and text messages.
Kiambu has 92 MCAs and 10 county executives. MCAs are entitled to a per diem of Sh14,000 per day when out on official duty while their counterparts in the executive pocket Sh16,000 a day, according to a remuneration cap set by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
Only Finance and Economic Planning Executive Kigo Njenga and his Youth, Sports, ICT and Communication counterpart Karung’o wa Thang’wa skipped the meeting. The two are perceived to be allied to Governor Waititu.
The row between Mr Nyoro and Mr Waititu has been brewing ever since the latter took over and it was evident a few weeks ago when Mr Nyoro tried to reassign Mr Kigo from the Department of Finance and Economic Planning to Trade, Tourism, Cooperative and Enterprise Development.
Mr Kigo ignored Mr Nyoro’s order and sought the intervention of county attorney Waithaka Wanjohi who ruled that the constitution does not grant the deputy governor powers to nominate, appoint or dismiss an executive.
Mr Thangwa is a close ally of Mr Waititu.
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