South Imenti MP aspirant Gideon Kimathi has heaped blame on Kathuri Murungi for the stalled new Sub-counties in the Constituency.
According to Kimathi, Hon. Kathuri’s decision to side with DP Ruto has negatively affected South Imenti residents, with close to zero development projects from the National Government.
“South Imenti has more than 100,000 votes – the highest number in a single constituency in Mt. Kenya East. But we are not getting our share from the National Government since 2013. No ambassadors, Permanent Secretaries, Commissioners of Police or Board Members of key commissions,” says the former Meru County Chief of Staff.
Kimathi says it’s appalling to see constituencies that delivered less than 30,000 votes to the Jubilee administration getting several kilometers of tarmac from the National Government, while South Imenti gets a few kilometers.
“The MP has reduced South Imenti residents into relying on CDF for everything. We are not getting our rightful share of resources because he chose to be on the opposing side.” Kimathi says.
New Sub Counties
An attempt to create an extra sub-county within South Imenti has always hit a deadlock since 2019, mainly due to disagreements by local leaders on the most appropriate formula for subdivision.
The initial proposal by the government was that the constituency, with a population of 206,500 people, be divided into two sub-counties, with the new headquarters in Nkubu town and Igoji market.
According to the proposal, Nkuene and Mitunguu wards – with a population of close to 85,000 people – were to form one sub-county, while Igoji East, Abogeta East, Abogeta West and Igoji West wards, with over 121,000 people, were to form another.
However, a meeting of local leaders in February 2019 scuttled the plans, with demands for a third sub-county to cater for the interests of the main clans, the Abogeta, Igoji and Nkuene.
At the center of the battles are elders and power brokers from the three major clans in the constituency, where each is fronting their interests. The result has been an endless political battle where groups have been making their stand known every weekend.
In 2021, the proposals in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) to create 70 new constituencies awakened the clan and supremacy politics in South Imenti, and amended proposals forwarded to the National Government for action.
Gideon Kimathi insists that it would only take a few hours to have the new sub counties gazetted, saying Kathuri Murungi’s unwillingness to work with Uhuru’s government is to blame for the delay.
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