Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu is at it again after he provoked the Nairobi governor over his Nairobi management.
While addressing crowd on Sunday during a meeting of an association of matatu owners from the metropolitan counties, Governor Waititu trashed the the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) project and the suspended ban on matatus from accessing the city centre, saying that the move would hurt business for those in the transport sector.
“We will not allow, again, Nairobi to go into the hands of somebody who does not care about the livelihood of [our] people,” said Mr Waititu.
The governors remarks were not taken lightly after Governor Sonko allies came out threatening to report the governor to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions over his remarks.
“We shall present a public petition to NCIC demanding action be taken against Waititu before we proceed to the DPP. It is not the first time he is being accused of hate speech,” said Mark Moses Maina, chairman of Nyamakina Young Traders Association.
Former Mwingi Central MP Joe Mutambu further commented saying, “Let him not run the affairs of Nairobi from Kiambu. Nairobi residents elected their governor and it is upon the people to decide whether they want to keep him or not. If he feels he is a Nairobian, then he should relinquish his position in Kiambu and come and run in Nairobi against Sonko or any other person but not to say that he is not going to let Nairobi to be run by certain people,” said Mr Mutambu.
He challenged Waititu to come up with a tangible plan on how to decongest Nairobi.
“For him to say that they will not let Nairobi to be governed by certain people is a reckless statement coming from a leader of his stature. It is very unfortunate when a leader is carried away or is drunk with power and makes utterances that are likely to cause disharmony in our country.
In addition he said, “We believe that whether you are learned or not, Kamba or Kikuyu, you have a right to live or do business within and without the borders of the country and it is not upon Waititu to dictate what people should do in Nairobi.”
The strained relationship between the two governors last played out in August last year first during the demolitions of structures on riparian land in the city where Governor Waititu suggested that rivers should be moved in order to spare the structures from demolition.