Kiambu: Wamatangi walking a tightrope as MPs accuse him of inaction, failing to deliver

Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi is walking a tightrope trying to quell the fury of a section of MPs who have accused him of inaction and inability to transform the county for the better.

Wamatangi who is now serving as the fourth Kiambu county chief after governors William Kabogo, disgraced Ferdinand Waititu and James Nyoro has recently been at the centre of attacks by legislators who feel he is doing less to transform some key county sectors including health and infrastructural development.

The MPs Alice Ng’ang’a (Thika), Gathoni Wamuchomba (Githunguri), Gabriel Kagombe (Gatundu South) and Githua Wamacukuru (Kabete) are irked by the dilapidated state of the county’s health facilities some of which are reported not to be having requisite drugs, are understaffed, lack key medical equipment to facilitate some services such as CT scan, Xray among others.

While describing the governor as a busy, unreachable man who listens to none of their development opinions, some of the MPs have threatened to rally their constituents to demonstrate against the county boss and not to pay the requisite levies.

While Ng’ang’a accuses Wamatangi of neglecting Thika Level Five Hospital to a pale shadow of its former self, Wamuchomba has piled a list of accusations against Wamatangi ranging from failure to establish key municipalities in the county to attract more development funding, abetting sale of alcohol by licensing more bars and failing to provide fire-fighting equipment in her constituency.

“We are giving Wamatangi five days to bring change to Thika Level Five Hospital which is a shell failure to which we lead Thika residents into demonstrations. The hospital has no medicine, it does not have enough staffers, it is dirty yet the governor only comes to his Thika office and not the ground where the real complaints are,” Ng’ang’a lamented.

“Governor Wamatangi has failed to establish Githunguri, Lari, Gatundu North and South municipalities. Kiambu is set to lose Ksh1.5 billion to another county if it does not meet the March 31 deadline to have completed the registration process. This money would have elevated the status of our markets, some of which are shanties in this era,” regretted Wamuchomba.

On his part, Wamacukuru has constantly described Wamatangi as a public relations governor who does less to transform the wealthy county.

“Wamatangi has only been doing PR with the people. He claims to have a program that will pay for NHIF covers of the vulnerable but where will these people be treated because our hospitals are not habitable?” queried Wamacukuru.

Kagombe, on the other hand, has taken issue with the first-time governor for failing to operationalize Gatundu Level Five hospital into a research and referral facility.

The hospital that was to be taken over by Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital (KUTRRH) in a collaborative agreement through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Health through KUTRRH and the County Government of Kiambu has been at the centre of protests from local patients who are often sent to private hospital facilities to access key services that it lacks.

In the plan, KUTRRH was to collaborate with Gatundu Hospital in the delivery of quality, efficiency, and effectiveness in the provision of health care services but the governor is reported to have stayed his mandate of signing the agreement.

“I have tried to reach Wamatangi but he is never available. We want to tell him to sit with KUTRRH management because initially the hospital used to offer quality services with the agreement was operational,” said MP Kagombe whose sentiments have also been echoed by MCAs Joe Kigara (Ng’enda) and Julius Kahura (Kiganjo).

While efforts to reach Wamatangi to comment on the issue were futile as he did not respond to our text messages or calls, the county boss yesterday said his silence should not be taken as being fearful of anything, assuring that all was well in the county.

Wamatangi insisted that his administration has been working around the clock to seal corruption loopholes that have dragged the county behind on matters of development for many years.

He took issue with a section of politicians working towards destabilizing his operations and whom he alleged could be part of the cartels that have corruptly been benefiting from the county.

“I want to urge Kiambu people when you hear people making noise and I am quiet, I don’t remain silent because I fear. Some people want to inflict fear on Kiambu residents and paint to them a picture of how bad things are. Nothing is amiss in Kiambu, the only thing we have done is opening doors for development and seal all corruption loopholes. Some politicians love being mouthy to push for my removal so that they can continue benefiting from cartels,” said Wamatangi.

Recently, Wamatangi has dismissed claims of a dilapidated state of hospitals as a scheme by cartels to capture the public facilities and malign the county’s name, a plot he has vowed to bring to an end.

“Some dubious suppliers and rogue healthcare workers have been diverting supplies meant for public facilities, and intentionally breaking down equipment in order to continue referring patients to private facilities owned by them or accomplices who reward them kickbacks,” Wamatangi said recently.

He gave an example of Kihara Level Four Hospitals where a new Sh10 million laboratory machine was installed at the facility but a week after, a healthcare worker at the facility reportedly went at night with large cutting scissors and cut the conduit cabals to ensure it can no longer be used.

“I have set my sights on delivering Kiambu again to where it was, and giving people the dignity they had before,” upheld Wamatangi.