Gachagua directs Meru leaders to broker truce in Kawira Mwangaza, MCAs row
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua addresses Meru County leaders at his Hiriga home in Mathira, Nyeri, on January 8, 2023, to broker peace between the MCAs and Governor Kawira Mwangaza.
A 10-member committee will be constituted to negotiate between Governor Kawira Mwangaza and Meru MCAs in an effort to end controversy that saw Ward Reps throw her out of office in December.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua directed the parties to name five members from each camp including two MPs who will negotiate and come to a consensus on disputed issues.
Mr Gachagua who held a meeting with the MCAs and Members of Parliament at his Mathira home on Sunday also instructed the committee to report to him on the agreed matters in the soonest time possible.
He is expected to meet Governor Mwangaza on Wednesday this week.
The members of the committee will be named when the Ward Reps return from their 10-day trip to Tanzania.
“The meeting with the 68 MCAs and the 12 MPs who included Meru Senator and Senate Deputy Speaker Kathuri Murungi spelt optimism that a way forward would be found following the intervention, and the county will be back on track,” Mr Gachagua said in a message sent from his office.
“I will reach out to Governor Kawira in the follow-up intervention and I am confident that a break- through will be found soon. I am happy with the progress we have made at the meeting and the willingness of the MCAs, particularly, to resolve the wrangles for the sake of their people and the county,” the DP added.
The meeting followed an earlier one held on Wednesday last week at State House in which Mr Gachagua met area MPs under the instruction of President William Ruto.
According to sources at the closed door meeting, some of the demands MCAs placed on Mr Gachagua's table was that Governor Mwangaza should stop working with their opponents who lost in the August 9 General Election and also commit to ceding ground on disbursement of bursaries to the Ward Reps.
Tabled their concerns
"The issue of the governor transferring ward administrators to their home areas and instructing them to take on the area MCAs also came up. MCAs want this stopped immediately," the source said.
Meru Assembly Minority Leader Mwenda Ithili said they tabled their concerns to the deputy president and once he meets the governor on Wednesday, delegates from each side will meet to finalise the truce.
“The team will work with the deputy president to come up with a framework agreeable to all. We will know the way forward once the governor meets the Deputy President," Mr Ithili said.
Majority Whip Jim Muchui said they are likely to resolve the differences by the end of the month since the MCAs were ready for a truce.
As the MCA met Mr Gachagua, Ms Mwangaza was ministering at her Baite Family Fellowship Church and led a thanksgiving service that brought together her close allies where she announced she would donate 45 dairy cows to 45 widows across the county as thanksgiving to God for rescuing her from impeachment.
She said the cows will be distributed across the 45 wards and the donation is expected to set her back close to Sh4 million.
In a sermon punctuated with her exploits before the Senate Special Committee, Governor Mwangaza said the idea is in line with her promise to uplift the needy in society and 'make Meru happy'.
“Since my way of giving thanks is unique, I would like you to assist me in identifying 45 widows, one in every ward. I know it will cost me about Sh4 million but I believe God will enable me to buy the cows. This is a sign of gratitude to God for giving me victory," the governor said.
The governor took time to recount her experience when the County Assembly demanded that she stand on the witness dock to respond to various questions during the Senate special committee hearing.
"Were it not that I care about the interests of the people of Meru, I could not have stood there for four hours. I stood for the entire time a matatu takes to drive from Meru to Nairobi. My back and legs were in pain but I persevered," she said.
"I felt better when a kind police officer gave me flat shoes. Even suspected notorious thieves have never been subjected to such an ordeal,” she said, adding that she was looking forward to working with other leaders in advancing her development agenda in the county.
The county assembly impeached Ms Mwangaza on December 14 but the Senate committee chaired by Kakamega senator Boni Khalwale exonerated her on December 30 by striking out the 62 grounds on the basis they were not properly substantiated.
On Sunday, however it became clear that State House was under pressure to save Ms Mwangaza from impeachment after women leaders petitioned the president to intervene.
Speaking during an interdenominational service at Nanyuki stadium on Sunday which was attended by President Ruto, Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru who is also the council of governors chair thanked the President for ensuring that Ms Mwangaza was not kicked out.
"Mr President were it not for you our sister would have gone home but it would not have been good just four months into office. We thank you for that and promise that with a little more patience all will be well," she said.
