Members of the Fourth Estate (Media) were on Tuesday barred from covering Kiambu Deputy Governor’s function outside the Kiambu Governor’s office on the pretext that they were fueling political woes between him and Governor Ferdinand Waititu.
The Deputy Governor (DG), Dr. James Nyoro emerged from the office and before he could settle on the agenda of the day he shouted “Wewe Tom, we do not need the press here” while referring to the KBC cameraman who was set to start recording the happenings of the day.
As Tom carried his tripod closer to the venue, he was whisked away by security personnel who reminded him that the press was not required and that the DG would address the media from his office. He had been waiting for the function for close to an hour before he learnt that his presence was not required.
Unknowing that other members of the press were amongst the crowd that he intended to address, the DG remarked “We do not need you people here as this is an in-house issue”. All the mainstream media had attended the function and were compelled to wait for him to finish addressing the workers so that he could address them.
As he pressed on the media to stop recording the events of the day, his security personnel kept an eye on the press and nobody was allowed to take any photographs or record the proceedings of the meeting.
One of his aides blamed the KBC cameraman for depicting the DG negatively and sharing with other media clips even when they had not been spotted at specific functions.
“We will not allow anyone to do business with our activities here in Kiambu,” he said as he kept on directing any motorists who attempted to drive near the venue, especially those in tinted motor vehicles.
The promise by the DG that he would address the media in his office after he wrapped up his address to the employees was not fulfilled as he returned to his office immediately.
The media was later informed after waiting for over two hours that he was in a meeting with his County Executive Committee Members (CECM). They then turned to interviewing the workers who had been addressed by the DG.
Dr. Nyoro has assumed the office of Governor of Kiambu following the court process which barred Governor Ferdinand Waititu from accessing any of the offices.
Only last week, social media reported that some 480 employees of the Kiambu County Government had been laid off after it was discovered that some did not have employment letters while others had two or three letters and their supervisors were not able to place them in areas where their services were required.
By Lydia Shiloya
