Dr. Mutua defends embattled deputy

Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua has defended his embattled deputy who was stripped of his ministerial portfolio five days ago by the local County Assembly and asked him to ignore the MCAs move.
Addressing a press conference he had called for the purpose Dr. Alfred Mutua told his deputy Eng. Francis Maliti to hang on his ministerial post and crack the whip against some “corrupt” Assembly representatives and leaders who are behind his woes after he sought to expose them.
“There has been a push by a few members and the leadership of the Machakos County Assembly to blackmail the executive especially deputy Governor Engineer Francis Maliti,” Dr. Mutua stated in his speech.
The Governor who was flanked by Maliti alleged that a cabal of corrupt leaders at the County Assembly wanted to blackmail the finance boss after he, on November 2, demanded some records from them for auditing.
Dr. Mutua claimed that his deputy’s action had been prompted by reports of impropriety that had come to his attention. He alleged that in order to cover up their mistakes the cartel came up with a motion to impeach the minister and consequently blackmail him.
“I do believe that this action was cooked up by a few people who have been beneficiaries of illegal and corrupt activities,” he added.
While assuring his deputy of his support, Dr. Mutua said he had written to the Auditor General to send his auditors to specific suspected officers so that they could be audited.
He promised to forward the audit report to the DCI and the EACC so that action could be taken against the officers whom he claimed were culpable.
On the November 7, the Machakos County Assembly through a majority vote passed a motion to impeach Eng. Maliti as the CEC for finance arguing that he did not have the requisite qualification to head the docket. He however was retained as the Deputy Governor.
By Justus Keesi