No longer at ease: Waititu, Nyoro feud plays out in the open.

Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu (left) and his Deputy James Nyoro during their swearing-in ceremony on August 19, 2017. Trouble now seems to be brewing between the two over the running of the county. PHOTO COURTESY.

The political feud between Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and his deputy James Nyoro was over the weekend blown out in the open when Nyoro fired the first salvo during an interview with the press at Sigona Golf Club after officiating the prize-giving of the Kenya Ladies Golf Union.

A visibly irate Nyoro described his boss as termed an impediment to progress as he (Waititu) ran the county alone without even involving the county executive committee.

Nyoro accused Waititu of making personal decisions without involving him in any of the far-reaching moves that require cabinet approval.

“The executive is being ran alone by the governor without anyone’s involvement. Through the nine months we have been in power, some of us have gone through torture. He has been making far-reaching executive decisions without any cabinet approval contrary to the Constitution and the county government Act,” Nyoro said.

He pointed out the ongoing rehabilitation programme for alcoholics, dissolving of eight water companies and merging them into one; declining to renew land lease for Del Monte Kenya Limited and construction of a new dumpsite at Nachu, in Kikuyu Constituency, as some of the issues that his boss had implemented without proper consultation.

“What has been happening in Kiambu is a one-man-show. There has not been any consultation between the governor and the county executive members and particularly, the deputy governor. All the controversial issues that we’re having today, including the Alcoholic Bill… the implementation of it… I want to be told what cabinet memo was done in order to be implemented,” Nyoro continued.

The deputy governor accused Waititu of making numerous unilateral decisions, chief among them his recent directive to relocate the county dumping site from Limuru to Nachu in Kikuyu sub-county. 

“I swear we shall not have a dumping site at Nachu. Over our dead bodies. Nachu will not be turned into a waste dumping site. Nachu will only be a dumping site for development,” he asserted.

He added that the governor had intimidated all his county executives and none could question his decisions as they had all been forced to sign pre-resignation letters that were dateless just in case they went into loggerheads with the governor. 

“They are all working in fear having been forced to sign dateless resignation letters so that when they differ with the governor, all he did was to insert a date to the resignation letter and announce that the affected CEC has tendered his resignation,” he asserted

Nyoro said at some point he was forced to work from a corridor besides being having to do with a faulty car.

He said he had decided not to sit and watch as the county ‘headed in the wrong direction due to poor leadership’.

“Enough is enough. I have to stand up and be counted by pointing out that the way the county is being run is not the right way,” said Nyoro.

The DG noted that the county had a good manifesto which, if implemented to the letter, would see it become a success story. However, he accused Waititu of being an impediment to this vision describing their nine months in office as wasted since nothing had been done to revive agriculture, which was one of their key campaign pledges.

“About 60% of Kiambu residents are farmers. We promised to revive coffee, tea and dairy farming and ensure the county was food secure. Nine months down the line, nothing has been done. When I bring suggestions on the table on how to revive or improve agriculture, they are trashed by the governor,” he quipped.

Nyoro also lashed out at the County Assembly, saying it had failed in its role of offering oversight to the county executive.

He alleged that the assembly had gone to bed with the executive, as MCAs were now in charge of implementing some of the county projects.

“The House speaker has become a disciple of the executive and the assembly has become like a branch of the executive. You cannot expect the MCAs to offer objective oversight to the same executive. They should know their mandate is purely representation, oversight and legislation,” he said.

Nonetheless, the DG vowed that despite all the friction between the two, he would not resign.

“I am not going anywhere. I was not appointed by the governor. I was not appointed by the assembly. I was appointed by the people of Kiambu who gave me the mandate to go on until 2022,” he said.