Twenty elected Embu ward representatives have accused Governor Martin Wambora of neglecting county duties and instead leaning more towards his new role as the chairman of the Council of Governors.
The Members of County Assembly (MCAs) accused Governor Wambora of failing to implement development projects in the region, leaving residents to suffer.
"Governor Wambora is so much obsessed with matters of the Council of Governors (CoG) while the region is lagging in development," they said in a statement.
The MCAs lamented that with only two months to the end of the 2020/21 Financial Year, Sh1 billion set aside for development remains unspent.
They pointed out that the national government had so far released Sh700 million for development projects while the county had collected revenue totalling Sh300 million for the same purpose.
But in a quick rejoinder, Mr Wambora denied that he had abandoned his development role and accused the MCAs of being used by his political rivals to tarnish his name.
"The MCAs are being used by their masters who are eying the gubernatorial seat in 2022 to level false accusations against me. Some MCAs were also not happy when I was elected the CoG chairman and they should leave me alone," he said.
Struggling even to pay salaries
"There is no such money. The Treasury has not released any funds to us for development and the MCAs should stop lying. We are struggling even to pay salaries because funds have not been released to counties," he said.
The county chief stressed that like everywhere across Kenya, his administration was concentrating on the fight against Covid-19 to save lives.
"No much development can take place when Covid-19 is ravaging lives. All the 47 counties including Embu are engaged in fighting the pandemic and the MCAs should stop misleading the public," he said.
He insisted that his elevation as CoG chairman has not affected his performance as Embu Governor adding that the ward reps were insincere.
The Council of Governors picked Mr Wambora as its new chairman in January this year. He is deputised by Kisii's James Ongwae.
The two succeeded Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) and Mwangi wa Iria (Murang'a) respectively.
In a statement read by Evurore ward representative, Duncan Mbui, the MCAs wondered why Mr Wambora had prioritised the construction of the Governor’s official residence and extension of his office complex at the expense of road rehabilitation, issuance of bursaries and stocking of county health facilities with basic drugs.
The MCAs alleged that since his election as the Chairman of the Council of Governors, Mr Wambora abdicated his role of overseeing development in Embu and immediately relocated to Nairobi, leaving the leaders at the grassroots to bear the brunt of attacks from the electorate for failure to implement projects at the ward level.
While declaring their support for Mr Wambora’s CoG chairmanship, the MCAs sought to caution that it was detrimental for him to appear to be too busy with his new engagement in Nairobi and forget that he has a responsibility to serve the people who elected him in Embu.
They asked the Governor to return “home” and ensure development projects are kick-started before the end of the current financial year.
The leaders further warned Governor Wambora against what they termed as committing “political suicide” by being indifferent to the plight of his people even though he was serving his final term as county boss.
The MCAs instead advised Mr Wambora to endeavour to leave a lasting legacy by concentrating on development projects.
They also demanded that all ward projects allocated funds in the county budget for the current fiscal period be implemented immediately.
The leaders regretted that the county had not started any development project for the last 10 months despite having an approved budget.
In response, Mr Wambora admitted that his office was being renovated.
"My office is leaking and computers are being rained on and repair work is going on," he said.
The MCAs were also quick to clarify that though they had ordered the finance docket to ensure payment of the county’s pending bills, the County Assembly had not issued any directive to suspend the implementation of development projects in the region.
