The on-off spat between Kericho Governor Erick Mutai and Deputy Governor Fred Kirui took centre stage during Madaraka Day celebrations on Thursday, following their public war of words.
The exchange centred on a 60-40 pre-election power-sharing deal, allocation of duties and resources to their respective offices and alleged disrespect.
Dr Mutai told Mr Kirui to stop undermining his administration, while eyeing a political duel for the top seat in the 2027 General Election, and instead join him in working for the people.
Mr Kirui accused Dr Mutai of reneging on a power-sharing deal, which saw them join forces to beat former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter in the April 14, 2022 primaries by the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), and subsequently win the August 9 poll.
The deputy governor claimed he was denied fuel for his official vehicle, and that his development ideas and agenda for the people of Kericho was relegated to the backburner by his boss.
Dr Mutai rubbished the alleged political agreement saying it was “merely a deal between politicians that was overridden by the people’s bigger interest in delivery of services and rolling out of development projects”.
“I have allocated you duties including being the leader of government business, chairman of the sub-Cabinet committees … and you are in charge of the rollout of water projects in the county, but you are not content,” he said during the celebrations at Litein High School grounds in the first ever public dressdown of his deputy.
“Your intentions are clearly to discredit the government which you are part of. As long as we are in office together, we will be charged equally.”
The Governor also shot down Mr Kirui’s claim that his office was denied fuel for his official vehicle, forcing him to use his private cars for the past few months.
“You have an allocation of 150 litres of fuel just like I have been allocated, but I have one car while you have your official one and a chase car. We could as well increase your fuel allocation to 300 litres and give you an additional car to make three if that will satisfy you,” Dr Mutai said.
He added that they both may have internal differences on running the county, but that this was not reason enough for his deputy to discredit the administration.
“The deputy governor has invited me to a meeting to discuss a political-power sharing agreement but I want to tell him here that I do not want to be part of that discussion,” he said as Mr Kirui fidgeted on his seat, next to County Commissioner Michael Lesimam and other leaders.
“We will soon be calling a leaders’ consultative meeting, but it will not be about the sharing of positions but charting the way forward on development of the county. We may have our own internal issues … I personally do not have any problem with you … but you have to stop doing these things that make us look stupid before the public. Let us mature, rise above petty politics and focus on serving the people.”
The governor further touched on claims by Mr Kirui that he was not being accorded the support and respect commensurate with the office he holds.
“We treat everybody with respect and every office with respect but you have intentions of discrediting the government. We must set aside our selfish interests and focus on serving the people” he said.
Dr Mutai’s remarks came after Mr Kirui, before inviting him to speak, said he did not have any problem with him, but alluded to not getting the requisite support to discharge his mandate to the people.
“I stepped down in the UDA nominations for the governor and we delivered the seat in the last general election. I am here today because I have supporters across the county. What we run is a coalition government,” Mr Kirui said.
The deputy governor further said he had been sidelined in the running of the county government and that he would not be part of a cartel embezzling public funds. He neither elaborated nor gave evidence.
“I am not corrupt and I will not embezzle taxpayers’ money. We must work for the people and create job opportunities while enhancing service delivery.”
While speaking about water projects, Mr Kirui said he has spent his own money conducting assessments in order to create a master plan to address shortages in the county.
“As an engineer, I have carried out feasibility studies on proposed water projects in the region and come up with a master plan that will sort out the shortages of the precious commodity in the county, if adopted,” he said.
“I have travelled to the water projects in the county and even the Itare treatment plant in Bomet County, a shared resource with Kericho County. I have done all these using my own money and personally fuelling my car.”
The stage for the bitter exchange was set after majority leader and Kamasian MCA Philip Rono and his Kisiara counterpart Gilbert Ng’etich told the two senior politicians to work together for the benefit of Kericho residents.
They accused the deputy governor of issuing disparaging remarks about the governor on radio and television stations while abdicating his duties.
“We will pray for both of you so that you can kiss and make up. It is our last prayer on this matter,” Mr Ng’etich said.
He added, “Being an engineer and in charge of projects in the water department, I want to publicly tell the deputy governor that we will not forgive you if the water woes in the county are not sorted.”
Mr Rono noted that the county assembly has previously been rocked by similar leadership wrangles, which were resolved through consultations.
“The county has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. We need to correct that and move on to serve the people who elected us,” Mr Rono said.
This was Dr Mutai and Mr Kirui’s second public falling out following one that occurred after the election. They were reconciled on October 15 last year in a deal sealed by Senate majority leader Aaron Cheruiyot and members of the clergy led by Reverend Joyce Tonui of the African Gospel Church.
