Laikipia: Teachers demand 5 slots in county’s cabinet to re-elect Ndiritu Muriithi
By David Macharia, July 3, 2022
Laikipia teachers have demanded an assurance that they will get five slots in the County cabinet in order to support the re-election of Governor Ndiritu Muriithi.
The teachers said they are valuable mobilizers of the society because of their close association with people at the grassroots and should be rewarded for throwing their weight behind any candidate.
They made the demand during a meeting between the teachers drawn from Laikipia West constituency and Governor Muriithi at the County Conference hall in Nyahururu town Saturday.
The Governor who is serving his first term appealed to the teachers to support him for another term and enumerated his achievements since he came into office in 2017.
“We are connecting piped water to residents of Kinamba and one of the homes we are connecting, coincidently, is that of the first governor (Joshua Irungu)
“He tried to stop us from laying pipes to his home by claiming we were interfering with his fence but when we sent a surveyor to establish the truth, it was established that it is him (ex-governor) who had encroached on the road reserve,” Muriithi said amid laughter from the teachers.
The Governor said he has been able to create 22,000 jobs during his tenure adding he targets to achieve another 50,000 if re-elected.
“We still need to create at least 90,000 new jobs per year in order to reduce joblessness in the County,” he said, adding that the majority of the 22,000 jobs were achieved through supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the County.
“I know teachers are mobilizers and on average one teacher knows about 500 people. Can you talk to them on our behalf and tell them that this fellow called Ndiritu is careful with public money and that is why he is accused of being mean,” the Governor said referring to himself.
Ndiritu said he was a friend to teachers. He urged the tutors to promote a peaceful campaign devoid of insults and mudslinging.
Muriithi who is also the chairman of Azimio One Kenya Alliance presidential campaign board used the occasion to seek votes for Raila Odinga.