Details of Kibicho, Waiguru bitter war – Weekly Citizen

It’s gloves off for two of Uhuru Kenyatta’s most trusted allies – Internal principal secretary Karanja Kibicho and Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru – as they wrestle for political supremacy in the region ahead of the 2022 general election.

Kibicho, by virtue of being the Interior PS is close to the president and communicates with him on daily basis while Waiguru has been close to the head of state since his tenure as deputy prime minister and minister for Finance in the grand coalition government headed by Mwai Kibaki as president and Raila Odinga as prime minister.

Waiguru was then head of governance and the Economic Stimulus Programme at the National Treasury, where Uhuru was her boss.

But Kibicho was the first to be appointed to a senior government position when Kibaki picked him in 2010 to be the permanent secretary in the ministry of Industrialisation.

Kibicho

Prior to his appointment as PS, Kibicho, a mechanical engineer was the head of the department of Mechanical Engineering at the Jomo Kenyatta University College of Agriculture and Technology and had been involved in array of engineering projects with some commissioned by the government.

One of the projects he had done was the evaluation of the pumping capacity of the Mombasa-Nairobi oil pipeline of the Kenya Pipeline Company Limited.

And when Uhuru was elected in 2013, Kibicho was among the three PSs who had served in the Kibaki regime the new president retained.

Those retained were Mutea Iringo as principal secretary, ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, Kibicho as Foreign Affairs PS and Micheni Ntiba (Fisheries).

In Uhuru’s first term, Kibicho took a back seat while in contrast, Waiguru, who was then the Devolution cabinet secretary, pulled the strings and indeed fellow CSs used to refer to her behind her back as the defacto prime minister.

But the fall of Waiguru as Devolution CS due to her links with the National Youth Service Sh790 million scandal was a golden opportunity for Kibicho to rise to become the most influential figure in Kirinyaga politics.

Today, Kibicho is easily the most powerful state official in Kenya after the president and Kibicho’s boss, cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i.

Every so often, you hear members of deputy president William Ruto’s Tangatanga political team crying foul.

They talk about state officials whom, they say, are “abusing power, disobeying court orders and frustrating the deputy president”.

On a number of occasions, they have come out openly, to mention Kibicho and Matiang’i.

At one point, last year, they even alleged there was a plot to physically eliminate the deputy president.

But now a new war has exploded pitting Kibicho against Waiguru, two of the president most trusted allies.

It was the PS who ignited the feud when he had unkind words for the Kirinyaga governor after the county chief allegedly declined to transfer a 100-acre parcel of land in Mwea to Kenya Medical Research Institute so that the agency can construct a Sh15 billion health and research facility.

In October last year, Kirinyaga county deputy governor Peter Ndambiri said the reason Waiguru was yet to okay the transfer of land to Kemri was because the institute bluntly refused to enter into an agreement with the governor.

“Kemri is not willing to enter into an agreement with Governor Waiguru’s administration. That is why the title deed of the Wamumu land in Mwea hasn’t been handed over to it,” Ndambiri said while addressing Kirinyaga residents at Riandira Primary School during the 2019 Mashujaa Day celebrations.

Ngirici

“We want to know how our residents will benefit from the project. Kemri must sign an agreement with us if it wants to be given the land document,” he added.

The deputy governor told Kemri that the document will only be released once the agreement was signed.

Ndambiri’s statement came on the back of a suit in court that stopped Kemri from undertaking any development on the 100-acre parcel of land in Mwea.

Kemri said it wanted to build a level five hospital, university, a medical supplies factory and a medical research centre at Wamumu area in Mwea, all valued at Sh15 billion

In late October 2019, Kemri through its lawyer Wilfred Lusi had gone to court seeking to have a September 2019 order stopping it from engaging in construction work on the land lifted.

Lusi told a Kerugoya court that a contractor was already on the ground, but was stopped from going on with the construction of the proposed ultra-modern teaching and referral hospital on the land after a suit was filed at the Environment and Land Court.

Waiguru

The civil suit was filed by one Leonard Kuria, who named Kemri as the first respondent and the Kirinyaga county government as the second respondent.

Kuria through his lawyer, DN Gitonga claimed Kemri did not involve area residents (public participation) as required by the constitution before commencing on the mega project.

Kuria in September 2019 had managed to get orders stopping the Kemri project from going on.

The orders were issued by the Environment and Land Court judge Enock Cherono who ruled that construction could only resume after the matter was heard and determined.

Kibicho has accused Waiguru of sabotaging the project, which, according to him, would immensely benefit the people of Kirinyaga county.

“The governor’s decision to sabotage the project is sheer stupidity that should not be allowed to continue,” Kibicho said while monitoring the progress of development projects in Mwea constituency.

“I am shocked that your governor is opposed to the Kemri project, which will go a long way in boosting the economy of Kirinyaga county. It is stupid and foolish of one to oppose such a viable project that, upon completion, will be very important to the people of the county that she leads,” said Kibicho.

The PS said Kirinyaga county constituents stand to lose big time should the project be channeled to another county.

Kirinyaga county deputy governor was present when Kibicho lashed out at his boss.

The PS even told Ndambiri to “implore upon the person who filed a case in court seeking to stop the Kemri project to withdraw the suit immediately”.

“If that doesn’t happen, then I would advise Kirinyaga county residents to protest, demanding withdrawal of the said case,” said Kibicho.

But Ndambiri, four CECs of Kirinyaga county and the county secretary had earlier been locked out of a meeting chaired by Kibicho as the PS met other government officials in a social hall in Mwea.

When the deputy governor attempted to gain access to the venue of the meeting, he was told to wait outside the hall as the two-hour meeting went on inside the hall.

After the meeting ended, Kibicho is said to have refused to brief Ndambiri and his team on what they had deliberated on.

But Ndambiri told journalists that Kibicho and his team were operating arrogantly in Kirinyaga without involving the county leadership.

“The national and county governments should work harmoniously with each other, and not engage in power struggles that end up hurting the mwananchi,” said Ndambiri.

Speaking after attending a church service at KAG Kanjai in Ndia constituency, Ndambiri said they are negotiating with Kuria who moved to court to stop the construction of the Sh15 billion project to drop the case but warned that Kibicho’s interference may derail the project.

According to Waiguru, Kibicho harbours motives in his spirited push to have Kemri pitch camp in Mwea without observing an MoU with the county government.

“On Kemri, Uhuru Kenyatta required an MoU to be signed so that the interests of Kirinyaga people, who I was elected to represent, are taken into account. Is PS Kibicho now superior to the president? What is his personal interest in the matter?” ranted the governor on Facebook.

“If PS Karanja Kibicho wants to engage in village politics and insults, he can resign and join others in early campaigns. In the meantime, he can concentrate on the difficult task of ensuring internal security, including in the turbulent parts of the country,” added Waiguru.