The bad blood between political sons and daughters of Kirinyaga County is getting messy by the day.
The sitting Governor, Anne Mumbi Waiguru, Woman Representative Purity Wangui Ngirici, and Interior Principal Secretary, Karanja Kibicho, are embroiled in a nasty war of words over the county’s leadership.
While Waiguru and Ngirici are contesting for the gubernatorial position, PS Kibicho has made it clear that he will not be trying his luck in elective politics. He, however, commands a substantive following and influence.
On Friday, November 26, PS Kibicho took to the podium to lecture the outgoing governor over what he termed as systemic graft, financial impropriety and misappropriation of office.
The PS, who is seen as a supporter of Ngirici, told off Waiguru for allegedly straining the relationship between the PS and the people of Kirinyaga.
Kibicho, who is known for not mincing his words, did not have kind ones for Waiguru saying that he was willing to fundraise for her to buy a dictionary of insults.
“If she thinks that she can scare me with her insults, tell her I am not the type of person she can intimidate. If she has not yet bought a dictionary of insults, I will finance her to do so,” stated Mr Kibicho, who was addressing the residents of Kirinyaga in Swahili.
The Interior PS went on to state that Waiguru was becoming an escapist and using him as a punching bag in order to hide her flaws as a leader. He went on to remind her that her approach was wrong and that she should answer all the audit queries directed at her by the people of Kirinyaga or any other investigative body.
“If questions have been raised on how the Kirinyaga County money was spent, let her go and answer. I have nothing to do with her financial impropriety. My office is at Nyayo House, not in Kirinyaga and hers is here, not in Nairobi.”
Kibicho advised the Governor to mend relations with him and that he was ready to help her with the mobilisation of votes.
“She should actually be asking her people to talk to me nicely because I am a voter here. I can help add to her basket of votes,” added Kibicho.
The PS’s response to Waiguru comes even as her rivalry with Ngirici escalates. The two have been engaged in a verbal altercation, with the confrontations becoming uglier since the Governor joined the United Democratic Alliance (UDA, a party affiliated with Deputy President William Ruto.
