Even as the cracks between Taita Governor Granton Samboja and his county MCAs continue to deepen, it is now evident that Dr. William Ruto and Raila Odinga’s politics are taking a center stage in the wrangles.
The governor after falling out with the MCAs on a number of different issues called for the dissolution of the Taita Taveta County after it seemed that the county was no longer manageable. This is after the county’ executive and MCA’s were embroiled in a tussle over the 2019/20 budget.
And in a bid to effect his dissolution calls, governor Samboja met ODM leader Raila Odinga a week ago. The ODM governor together with his delegation briefed Raila on challenges they were experiencing.
Samboja who is already collecting signatures in support of the county dissolution bid was urged by the ODM boss to embrace dialogue with the county assembly to avoid hampering service delivery to residents of the county.
Raila Odinga is said to have also faulted the MCAs, majority of whom belong to his party, arguing for frustrating the Governor and developments in the county.
“The county legislature has been abusing their role of oversight and take over the process of budgeting, this happens every year. When budgets come, the MCAs push for Constituency Ward Development Fund which they want to control,” said Raila.
Received a delegation from the county government of Taita Taveta led by their Governor @Sambojagranton who briefed me on challenges they are experiencing. I urged them to embrace dialogue with the county assembly so that service delivery to residents of the county is not hampered pic.twitter.com/xLwQdGgr7g
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) July 10, 2019
A week after the governor Met the ODM boss, the rival county MCAs who were elected on an ODM ticket were also on Friday on their way to Nairobi to meet Deputy President William Ruto over the same wrangles.
However, according to reports, the delegation failed to meet Deputy President William Ruto, with whom they had scheduled a meeting to discuss the impasse in the county.
According to media reports, the MCAs had booked an appointment with Dr. Ruto but were unable to meet him but were instead hosted by Ruto’s close Ally Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen.
Having listened to the MCAs and casual perusal of the written exchanges between the Executive and the Assembly, I have formed the opinion that with proper dialogue, consultation and mutual respect, the two arms of County Government can easily resolves their differences. pic.twitter.com/b3Iv0gQ08a
— KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN, E.G.H (@kipmurkomen) July 19, 2019
The MCAs are said to have discussed with the Senate Majority leader on the row between the assembly and the County’s executive.
It’s not yet clear why Ruto did not meet the lawmakers but instead delegated the task to Murkomen to listen to their pleas. Dr. Ruto is keen to take control of Taita Taveta in 2022.
The MCAs are demanding for the government to allocate Sh41 million to each ward. It is claimed the MCAs amended the budget without involving the local community through public participation, as provided for in the law something that angered the governor