Embu Governor, MPs clash as DP William Ruto ‘watches’

The battle for supremacy between Embu Governor Martin Wambora and Members of Parliaments in the county played out in the open during an event graced by Deputy President William Ruto.

The leaders, pro and anti-governor Wambora engaged in bitter exchanges over the county leadership prompting Deputy President Ruto to intervene.

Manyatta Member of Parliament John Muchiri kicked off the storm by accusing a section of MCAs from Embu county assembly allied to Wambora of fueling hatred and animosity between the Embu and Mbeere ethnic communities.

He said that there had been a wave of rallies held to sideline the Mbeere community who reside in the lower part of Embu County ahead of the 2017 General Elections.

Mbeere North legislator Muriuki Njagagua hit out at Wambora administration accusing him of massive corruption and sidelining some communities.

“According to the Auditor General’s report, millions of shillings have been lost under Governor Wambora’s leadership. The county bought vehicles of 2500cc with millions of shillings yet the vehicles delivered are of 1600cc engine capacity,” he said.

When he woke up to speak, the visibly annoyed Wambora accused the Members of Parliament of mudslinging in an effort to have him removed from office before his term ends in 2017.

According to Wambora, talks of 2017 politics should wait adding that his opponents will be in rude shock if they expect him to lose a re-election bid.

“The County Assembly and the Senate were unable to remove me from office, and if they did not succeed, these few Members of Parliament here will not succeed,” he said.

However, Embu Senator Leny Kivuti noted that the county leadership must be transparent in how they spend county allocations adding that they should not feel intimidated when questions on matter of accountability.

It took the intervention of Deputy President William Ruto to calm the leaders down urging them to work together for the benefit of the residents.

Ruto said that the leaders must respect each other’s position and wait for the 2017 General Election for the residents of Embu to decide whether to vote them back or not.

The leaders were speaking at Siakago stadium in Embu County where Ruto launched the Kenya Cereals Enhancement Programme.

He said the Kenya Cereals Enhancement Programme targets to benefit 100,000 farmers in eight counties in its initial phase through building their capacity to produce more by availing inputs then helping them access market.