Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos has dismissed utterances attributed to four MPs from the county, saying they do not represent the views of residents and the local leadership.
Tolgos was reacting to criticism of ongoing investigations into the proposed Arror and Kimwarer dam projects by MPs Bowen Kangogo (Marakwet East), Daniel Ronoh (Keiyo South), William Kisang (Marakwet West) and Jane Chebaibai (Woman Rep). The two projects are in Elgeyo Marakwet county.
At the weekend, the MPs, accompanied by several MCAs, addressed a press conference in which they accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of using the dam projects to fight Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid.
Saying that the residents of Elgeyo Marakwet supported the war on corruption, and particularly the probe of the two projects, Tolgos accused suspects of the alleged multi-billion-shilling scam of using politicians to defend them.
“We want to confirm to the President that we fully support the war on corruption and the investigating agencies in carrying out their mandate,” Tolgos told journalists in Iten.
He also termed the MPs’ attacks on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission as unfortunate.
The governor said if the MPs are unhappy by the perceived differences between Uhuru and his deputy owing to the Handshake with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, they should direct their grievances to the relevant Jubilee Party organs.
Succession politics, he said, should not be used to undermine projects funded by the national government.
“We should not be overwhelmed by 2022 politics to the point of forgetting that we have a manifesto to deliver to the people,” said Tolgos. He dismissed claims by the MPs that there was a scheme to terminate the dam projects.