Deputy President William Ruto on Friday sparked confusion in Tharaka-Nithi County after he suggested that the County headquarters were in Chuka yet the Governor and other leaders had been operating in Kathwana.
Speaking during a fundraiser at Kaare Secondary School, Ruto announced that the National Government had funded multiple projects in Chuka including the recent tarmacking of roads.
“In phase one, we allocated Sh300 million for tarmacking Chuka Town roads which is your county headquarters and we have added Sh70 million to make sure that it looks like a city,” Ruto stated.
It's this statement that prompted Tharaka-Nithi Governor Samuel Ragwa on Sunday, to ask the National Government to clarify whether it doesn’t recognise Kathwana as the county headquarters.
“We need a clarification on the deputy president’s statement because we could be developing Kathwana without knowing that Chuka Town is the county headquarters,” said Mr Ragwa.
His sentiments were echoed by his deputy Mati Murithi who said the National Government had established all its projects in Chuka including the High Court, Huduma Centres among other projects instead of Kathwana which was the county headquarters.
A section of county legislators said they had already agreed in 2014 that Kathwana would be the Tharaka-Nithi County headquarters and they wouldn’t agree to move it to Chuka town.
“Four hundred people met during the 2013 campaigns and agreed that Kathwana would be the county headquarters and no one will go against that,” Mukothima Ward MCA Gataya Mwenda affirmed.
