Questions have been raised on the whereabouts of Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru following a noticeable absence from the public eye in the last two weeks.
Since delivering her submissions to the Senate Devolution Committee on the county impasse on Tuesday, July 21, Waiguru has largely been missing in action.
Speculation on the matter increased when she missed a key mediation meeting held in Kirinyaga County in the last week of July. A series of meetings involving business leaders, politicians and religious leaders have been held in Nairobi and Kirinyaga County in a bid to reconcile Waiguru and members of the Kirinyaga County Assembly.
Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) bishop Joseph Kibucwa confirmed to reporters on Saturday, August 1, that Waiguru did not show up for the meeting but was represented by one of her CECs. At the same time, reports surfaced alleging that the Governor had secretly entered self-quarantine.
It was claimed that Waiguru entered self-quarantine after a key member of her staff tested positive for Covid-19.
The Governor was yet to respond to queries made by Kenyans.co.ke on the allegations by the time of publication.
Kirinyaga County Communications Director Angela Wangeci promised to respond to various queries raised but was yet to do so by the time of publication.
So far, Waiguru has been represented in the conciliatory meetings by emissaries and close associates fueling further speculation.
Other than Kibucwa, other influential figures involved in the push to reconcile the warring parties are banking magnate Peter Munga, founder of the Mt. Kenya Foundation, as well as the Kikuyu Council of Elders and the Gikuyu Embu Meru Association (GEMA).
Before her apparent disappearance from the public eye, Waiguru had been at the centre of attention-grabbing headlines thanks to her wrangles with the county assembly.
The former Devolution CS, however, has been partly active on social media with her most recent post being on Saturday, August 9, where she shared a segment by CNN's Chris Cuomo titled “Life is pain management," to which che captions "And I mostly agree..."
After an impeachment bid initiated by the MCAs failed in the Senate, Waiguru claimed that Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho was behind her woes.
"Since the failure of the motion, I am now very disheartened to learn that you have continued to support a heavily funded and well-orchestrated scheme to destabilise the county.
"In the most recent occurrence, you digitally took part in a meeting with over 20 MCAs who have ganged up and sworn to make Kirinyaga ungovernable," Waiguru wrote in a statement issued on July 23.
Kibicho, however, denied the allegations and has since declared that he has no interest in the Kirinyaga Governorship contrary to reports.
