Today is the D -day for the Mt Kenya leaders as President Uhuru Kenyatta has set a date with the legislators.
The Head of State will meet the leaders at the residence of Regional Commissioner Wilson Njega in Nyeri town before he proceeds to open the Karatina Market in the afternoon.
According to an anonymous Member of Parliament, “We will meet the President at 11am. Ms Cecily Mbarire will present our petition and the resolutions from our meeting. We are grateful that he is ready to listen to us because our concerns are legitimate,” said the MP.
The region has for a while now been cryingh out loud claiming that their hard efforts of supporting the Jubilee government to power has not been reciprocated especially in funds allocation
While speaking on Wednesday, Gatundu MP Moses Kuria said, “Within the context of the Constitution, why aren’t we getting development funds commensurate with our investments.”
The MPs, during a retreat in Naivasha on Monday, claimed that other regions were being favoured while Mt Kenya region had been neglected.
Part of the lawmakers’ demands include that President rescinds his decision to freeze new projects. In July this year, the President gave an order stopping new projects until stalled and ongoing ones are completed. The directive has hurt the political careers of first-time MPs who made promises to push for new projects once elected.
“Now, we have been elected and the President’s directive has made it difficult to lobby for those projects,” said an MP.
The MPs also want to hold frequent meetings with the President amid an uproar that he has become inaccessible compared to his deputy.
“All other regions have had an opportunity to meet him. We are only saying that we also have a stake in this country,” he said.
Mr Kuria, in an interview on NTV, said they will raise with the President the issue of slow pace of implementation of projects by Cabinet Secretaries.
Kangema MP Muturi Kigano said the meeting will not be political but will focus on lobbying for increased allocations to Mt Kenya region. “We need development. It will not be political but we just do some housekeeping,” he said.
In demanding the lion’s share of national resources, the 67 MPs said they contribute more to the economy than what they were getting.
“Mt Kenya must claim its rightful share within the remaining four years of the current administration,” said Ms Mbarire.