A group of professionals from Tharaka Nithi and the larger Meru region has launched a formal push to have the name of Tharaka Nithi County changed to Meru South.
This, the Ameru Professionals Association (AMPA) argues, will be vital in enhancing cohesion and unity among Ameru-speaking people.
They presented a petition to the County Commissioner on Monday kick-starting the process that has drawn mixed reactions.
“The main reason why the professionals propose a change of the names is to bring unity [among] the Ameru community for the purpose of development and peaceful coexistence,” stated Prof Erastus Njoka who is also the association's Spokesperson.
The plan sparked vehement opposition from a section of leaders including Governor Muthomi Njuki and Woman Representative Beatrice Nkatha Nyaga who maintained that they had no desire to have the county renamed.
[caption caption="Tharaka Nithi Woman Representative Beatrice Nkatha Nyaga"]
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Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Tuesday, Nyaga reiterated that matters of development needed to be given priority over the county's name as she urged the professionals' group to first consult leaders and the public.
"We have issues of development to deal with. When others are talking about building roads how can we be talking about names?
"Tell him (Njoka) to consult. We have not sat down as leaders and the people of Tharaka Nithi but they already want to go to mashinani (grassroots) collecting signatures," Nyaga stated.
She further disclosed that, in a Monday evening meeting with leaders from Meru, they were told that their neighbouring county did not want to be known as 'Meru North'.
A source close to Governor Njuki told Kenyans.co.ke that they were studying the petition before issuing a statement on the same.
“As elected leaders, we are comfortable with the name Tharaka-Nithi County as it defines our identity, and who we are as a people," he had declared in January.
[caption caption="Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki"]
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