Ichung’wah slammed over calls to delink Kiambu from larger Mt Kenya region
Youth leaders from Kiambu have slammed a section of politicians who have endorsed the delinking of the populous county from the Mount Kenya region terming the move as divisive and ill-formed for selfish gains.
Led by the KLM Chairman Ngugi Ndegwa and Secretary General Kimani Wachira, the youths hit out at Members of Parliament led by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah for attempting to balkanise the Mt Kenya communities.
Terming the move as selfish and meant to create divisions among the Central Kenya communities, the group under umbrella Kiambu Liberation Movement (KLM) said instead the political leaders should push for allocation of more funds.
“Let it be known that the people of Kiambu have for many years worked hand in hand with our great brothers and sisters from every part of the region. This unity and love bound by the selfless spirit of all our people has always birthed the strength and resilience of the region culturally and even economically,” they said in a statement.
Thy added that Kiambu remains and will continue to remain a part of the greater Mount Kenya region and the people will not allow any politically engineered plot to divide them.
“To suggest otherwise is not only misleading, but also a deliberate attempt to fragment our unity for short-term political gains. We, the youth and progressive voices of Kiambu, will not allow such outdated tactics of divide and rule to take root in this era of enlightenment and digital solidarity,” the group emphasized in the statement.
A section of parliamentarians from the county recently made pronouncements that Kiambu should be a stand-alone region, rather than remain as part of the Mountain region.
Speaking during a meeting of residents from the county convened by President William Ruto at State House, the leaders said Kiambu gains nothing from its association with the ‘Mlima region’ and should be considered separately for resource allocation.
However, the youth leaders dismissed the assertion as misleading, maintaining that the Constitution only recognizes counties for allocation of funds and not regions.
They said instead the politicians should push splitting of Kiambu and creation of more constituencies and wards in order to attract more funding.
The vote rich Mount Kenya bloc is rallying together all leaders led by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, Martha Karua, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and all other leaders calling for unity of the larger GEMA communities.
