DP Gachagua to take on Meru County crisis after cabinet retreat
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at the Mitihani House on November 11, 2022.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is expected to meet with Meru members of the county assembly tomorrow in an attempt to broker peace between them and Governor Kawira Mwangaza.
County Assembly Speaker Ayub Bundi confirmed that Mr Gachagua had convened a meeting to be held after the conclusion of the ongoing Executive retreat at the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki, Laikipia County. Mr Bundi, however, declined to elaborate.
Meru Parliamentary Group chairman John Mutunga said the first talks will bring together area MPs and the MCAs before another one is convened in which the governor will be present.
“By first talking to the MCAs, we want to understand the genesis of the problem, then meet with the governor, together with the ward reps. We don’t want these issues to escalate again and we are determined to resolve the matter,” Dr Mutunga, who is the Tigiania West MP, said in a phone interview.
The series of meetings to unite Ms Mwangaza and the MCAs follows President William Ruto’s instruction to his deputy to broker a deal that will see normalcy return in county operations.
On December 14, 2022, 67 out of 69 MCAs impeached Ms Mwangaza, but the Senate exonerated her from the 62 grounds on December 30.
On Wednesday night during a joint media interview at State House, Dr Ruto said he was keen on supporting the Meru governor to wade out of the political quagmire, saying he had tasked his deputy to broker peace.
“We just managed to do something about Meru. As we speak, there is a conversation being led by my deputy to support them politically because the governor does not have so much experience,” he said.
As he spoke, Mr Gachagua was holed up in a meeting with all Meru MPs, including Senator Kathuri Murungi.
Take charge
Dr Mutunga said that during the meeting, Mr Gachagua expressed concern that the row had boiled over into impeachment and challenged them to take charge of the affairs of the county.
He said the leaders told the Deputy President that they had tried to mediate but had not succeeded to have a meeting with both parties by the time the governor was thrown out. The lawmaker said Mr Gachagua was also concerned that the controversy would make the county miss out on development opportunities, especially the donor-funded ones, which are time-bound.
The DP pointed out that Meru was fourth nationally in terms of the number of votes cast in the August 9 General Election, which means it is critical to the Ruto administration.
“We have expressed ourselves as Meru leaders that we want the county to be run in an amicable manner. Now that the matters have escalated onto the national stage, we want to commit ourselves to resolve the row. We have exposed ourselves out there, yet these are issues we can deal with internally,” Dr Mutunga said.
