Governor Charity Ngilu Wants Kitui County Dissolved

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu says she will push for the dissolution of the county if Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) continue to hold her government to ransom.

Governor Ngilu has vowed not to succumb to the Ward Representatives' demands for luxury holiday trips and would rather the county be dissolved and fresh elections held. She says the MCAs are forcing her to abandon her promises to the people of Kitui, something she would never give in to.

The Ward Representatives have rejected Ngilu's supplementary budget and impeached Finance Minister Mary Nguli.

"The MCAs have rejected the supplementary budget because I insisted on putting 80 percent of the funds under the community-level infrastructure projects for water. This is what the people who elected me want, and I will not betray them," she says.

"You all know that the assembly is headed by a man who unsuccessfully tried to unseat me for 20 years as the MP for Kitui Central, and theirs is just an agenda to frustrate me," she adds in apparent reference to George Ndotto, the Kitui Assembly speaker.

She further claims the MCAs have vowed to continue frustrating her government if she doesn’t bow to their demands for expensive trips.

"I proposed we increase the water and health budget in line with people's needs, but the assembly is demanding leisure trips to Mombasa. If we can't agree on what is good for Kitui people, then let's agree to dissolve the county and seek fresh mandates from the people" she notes.

"The people of Kitui voted for me because I had a better manifesto than my opponents. The political squabbles are only frustrating service delivery to the same residents and slowing down implementation of projects."

Ngilu's trouble with the Ward Representatives began in August 2018 after she canceled their planned three-day bonding retreat in Mombasa.