The Kirinyaga County Assembly on Monday passed a motion that will compel the County Public Service Board to abolish the Liaison and Communication Directorate they claimed only serves the interests of the Governor.
The mover of the motion and Assembly Majority Leader, Kamau Murango said the Directorate which was established on November 2, 2017 had failed to live to its purpose and objectives and turned out to be a propaganda tool.
Through the Tebere MCA, Gudson Muchina who stood in for Murango, the MCAs wondered why the Directorate was always focusing on the activities of the Governor Anne Waiguru while it was expected to be the link between Ward representatives and Wanjiku.
The MCAs gave the County Public Service Board 48 hours upon receipt of the passed motion to disband and abolish the said Directorate whose budget runs into millions of shillings.
“We gave this Directorate and we now taketh back the same by resolving by a majority vote that it be disbanded and abolished within the next 48 hours,” Muchina told the Assembly.
The MCAs further claimed the Directorate had some staffers whose main job was to mudsling those seen not to be in good books with the County Executive.
“How can the Directorate hire bloggers whose main preoccupation is to hurl insults at some elected leaders like us and also continue being a propaganda tool for the Governor?” posed Joseph Maina, the Nyangati Ward MCA.
The Nominated MCAs, Caroline Muriithi and Joyrisa Njagi also voted for the abolition of the Directorate which they said had abdicated its role to inform and educate Wanjiku on the development activities taking place in the county.
“But instead of sticking to its mandate, this Directorate whose budget is over Sh.10 million has concentrated in the running of a one man show at the expense of the 33 MCAs, the 10 CECs and more so Wanjiku whose opinion or wishes can hardly be captured anywhere by it ,”Muriithi said .
The MCA also claimed the e establishment of the directorate was duplication since each of the departments within the County Government had a Communication Unit.
The county legislators warned that should the governor not heed to the resolution, then they will cut off its budget when the County Government whose supplementary budget is expected to be presented on the floor of the Assembly this week.
The motion was passed yesterday afternoon while the sitting was presided over by the Assembly Speaker, Antony Gathumbi and attended by 30 out of the 33 MCAs.
The Directorate has about 30 employees majority of whom are in the county while the rest in the County’s Nairobi liaison office.
By Irungu Mwangi
