Governor Kinuthia Mbugua endured one of his worst episodes of humiliation in his own backyard when he was booed and heckled in front of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto. As the motorcade of the two principals snaked through Nakuru’s Kenyatta Avenue, it turned out to be one of the most embarrassing moments for Mr Mbugua since he was elected the county chief executive officer.
Crowds jeered him to the point that he could not even address them. As the crowd jeered and shouted, Mr Kenyatta watched in utter disbelief, taking his handkerchief to wipe his face as the crowd shouted at Mr Mbugua to step down from the rooftop of Mr Ruto’s vehicle. Mr Ruto, however, offered consolation to the governor, even patting his back.
But it was not Mr Mbugua alone who would spend a sleepless night puzzling over the day's events. County Woman Representative Mary Mbugua was also shouted down by the agitated crowd. It all started when Mr Ruto gave Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria a chance to speak, to the jubilation of the crowd. Mr Gikaria, popularly referred to as ‘TM’, received overwhelming applause from the crowd. When he finished addressing the crowd, the Deputy President invited Mr Mbugua, who had approached him to speak, only for the crowd to start shouting in protest and waving their hands to show their rejection, shouting “Hatutaki Mbugua! Hatutaki Mbugua (We don’t want Mbugua!)".
Mr Mbugua tried to proceed, to no avail, his voice drowned in the thunderous protest shouts from county residents. “Tumpe Rais nafasi atuzungumzie (Let us give the President a chance to speak),” is all he managed to say. He was forced to give up, barely 10 seconds after taking the microphone. Mr Ruto was forced to intervene as he led the wananchi to recite the slogan "Jubilee tuko pamoja (Jubilee we are are united)", as he pleaded with the crowd to calm down.
The crowd went on to cheer on Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro and Water and Irrigation Minister Eugene Wamalwa, who were introduced after him to say a word and greet the public. This was the final stopover by the two principals in Nakuru Town on their second and last day of their visit to the county. At their first stop in the town at the Kenya Farmers Roundabout, Mr Mbugua was not given a chance to speak to the public.
Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama, the only Cord MP in the county who has declared his support for Jubilee, and Mr Gikaria, were handed the microphone by the President to speak to the crowd. Mr Gikaria had publicly implored the President to give Mr Mbugua a minute to speak, but it appears the request fell on deaf ears.
It appears, however, that there had been signs that everything was going wrong for the governor on this particular visit. Right from the start, he seems to have been caught off-guard by the President’s visit. It has now been confirmed that the governor was not expecting the President this week.
The Nation learnt from county staff that the governor had information that the Head of State would visit on Thursday next week. Mr Mbugua had left the country on Saturday for a trip to the Netherlands and was scheduled to return on Friday. He managed, however, to return by Wednesday morning, right on time to receive Mr Kenyatta in Kamara, where the President stopped briefly on his way from Eldama Ravine in Baringo County where he had commissioned the Chemususu water supply and treatment plant. Mr Mbugua accompanied President Kenyatta for the rest of his tour through Molo and Elburgon in Njoro. Though the governor was at the Nakuru State House breakfast meeting, it was Mr Gikaria who stole the show.
No comments:
Post a Comment