WAIGURU IS THE CHOICE OF THE KIRINYAGA PEOPLE

MY CASE ON WHY GOVERNOR ANNE WAIGURU SHOULD NOT BE IMPEACHED BY THE SENATE

By Abala Kinyua

                                          Pic; Courtesy

Kenyan politics is probably one of the most interesting field in the entire African continent. It is a politics where we invoke tribal galvanization every five years and end up crying for another five years before we repeat the same mistakes made five years ago.

Kenyans are known to have much sense before the electioneering period only for them to lose the sense they had when the election calls.

The politicians have mastered this game and have perfected a way on how to check mate the electorate every five years. By the time the electorate realize that they have been outwitted, the politician is basking in his glory while laughing all the way to the bank to cash his check.

A s a Kenyan adult, i have successfully participated in two general elections; That of 2013 and that of 2017.

I would like to concentrate on the 2017 election as it the one that saw the election of Anne Mumbi Waiguru Waiganjo as the governor of Kirinyaga county.

Waiguru as she is commonly known was prior to her election as governor one of the most powerful cabinet minister in the then Jubilee coalition (URP &TNA) government and was among other things the minister with one of the biggest budgets in that regime.

In her tenure at the devolution ministry, Anne Waiguru was painted as the most hardworking cabinet minister with the regime showcasing her agenda on the National youth service and the Huduma center project (Which I actually list as one of the most important things Uhuru’s government got correct despite the challenges); She was the iron lady of the government, the darling of the president and the darling of the ruling coalition.

However, behind the pomp and color and under her watch and ALLEGED participation, the government lost billions of shillings under the scam of the NYS.

When theft of the billions first broke through the then opposition leader Raila Odinga, everyone in the ruling coalition led by the president himself assisted by his deputy William Ruto, his majority leader Aden Duale, Kipchumba Murkomen and others jumped to Waiguru’s defense claiming that the ODM leader and his supporters were envious of the work Anne Waiguru was doing.

At this time, the name ‘MINJI MINJI’ was coined by the people of Kirinyaga to refer to their daughter who was being attacked and profiled by ‘Mganga’ the ‘perennial loser’

The defense of ‘minji minji’ went on ‘despite the overwhelming evidence that led to several resignations of top NYS officials including the Director General then Nelson Githinji. The opposition too did not relent on their pressure for her to resign.

When the evidence was so overwhelming to resist, the besieged Cabinet minister finally threw in the towel and in a well-arranged press conference, she announced to the country that she was resigning her position as a cabinet minister.

She said that the events concerning corruption allegations at the NYS had had a devastating impact on her health and she had been advised by her doctor to take up ‘LIGHTER DUTIES’

Barely a week after resigning, Anne trooped to the TNA headquarters with a huge crowd of supporters to officially join the party as a life member; An event that saw her journey in politics begin (despite the advice to take lighter duties by her doctor)

Now rebranded as ‘Minji Minji’, Waiguru hit the road in her quest to become the Kirinyaga governor (If she succeeded, she would be one of the first Kenyan women governors ever elected).

Her 2017 campaign was branded as anti Raila campaign; The person who she claimed tarnished her name and lied to the people that she was corrupt and the person who made ‘the people of Kirinyaga’ leave the cabinet.

Her campaign urged the people of Kirinyaga to elect her so as to shame the ‘the devil’ (Raila) and to prove to him that she is ‘mweupe kama pamba’. Indeed, the people of Kirinyaga elected her overwhelmingly despite her corruption allegations and despite the fact that they had other candidates that they could have considered.

Fast forward to 3 years in office, the same people who elected her have impeached her ( It could be possible that the people are still with her and that the MCAs who impeached her have issues with her) and are begging the same man they elected her to spite, to help them get rid of her.

It would be hypocritical for the electorate to always choose wrong leaders for themselves then come back to complain when things are not going the intended way.

The Kenyan voter must learn to elect good leaders for themselves not for the sake of others or for the sake of humiliating another person. The leaders we elect are a reflection of how we want our lives to be. If we elect wrong leaders, our lives cannot be any better.

We must end this cycle of electing poorly and crying for five years only for us to elect poorly again for another five years.

As it was my opinion with disgraced Kiambu governor Waititu, it is still my conviction that the senate must not impeach Anne Waiguru to allow the people of Kirinyaga to learn and make the right choice when the next electoral cycle comes.

End.

Abala Kinyua is a political writer, commentator and Digital media consultant