A social media war between Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok and Senator Malachy Ekal over the annual Turkana Tourism and Cultural Festival bubbled to the surface during Mashujaa Day celebrations.
Ekal fired the first salvo and dismissed the fete dubbed Tobongulore as being of no consequence to residents.
“There are those saying the festival was budgeted for but what I am asking is what became of the water budget. We need water not Tobongulore,” he said.
“Where does that money go?” he asked.
But Nanok dismissed the senator’s claims, saying the festival, which was born out of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, has had immense peace and development dividends.
Ekal, who left the Mashujaa celebrations before Nanok spoke, told the county government to be proactive instead of reactionary when dealing with the flooding menace.
He also lamented that teachers’ recruitment did not favour locals.
Visit county
However, Nanok said Ekal was out of touch with the reality on the ground on many issues because “he behaves like visitor to the area”.
“There are those who just visit the county. They need to stay here long enough to understand what the county government is doing for the residents,” said Nanok.
The senator competed against Nanok in 2013 but lost. The duo would later unite under ODM in 2017.
— KNA