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Trans-Nzoia Deputy Governor Philomena Kapkory yesterday revealed the frustrations she is undergoing under her boss George Natembeya.

The Senate Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committee commenced investigations into how the two have turned against each other threatening service delivery in the bread basket county.

Appearing before the committee chaired by Wajir lawmaker Sheikh Abbas, the embattled Kapkory described how she has allegedly been excluded, discriminated and sidelined in decision-making and running of county affairs.

She claimed she has been denied use of designated residence as DG and threats to personal security and life have been made via WhatsApp chats and Facebook posts.

“I have not had the opportunity to effectively discharge my roles due to several factors and reasons. My predicaments border on lack of facilitation to discharge duties, contempt, mistreatment, intimidation, security and threats to life, public vilification, and deliberate acts of disrespect by junior county staff among others,” she said.

Kapkory charged that in September, while in the US attending the United Nations General Assembly, she received a number of messages from concerned residents informing her of abusive and threatening posts on various social media platforms targeted at her.

She contends that the threatening message were posted by known officials who are part of the governor’s communication team and that the messages were published or posted after a delegation of members of the Sabaot community made a presentation at the National Dialogue Committee at Bomas, demanding for the creation of an extra county.

“The threats issued against me were personal and the constant message was that I am not required to step in my office as I had become a “persona non-grata”.

The threats were to the effect that if I stepped in the office or if I was seen, the said officials were ready “to deal with me. The threats were that they would not handle the issue politely when violence could solve it and that “the world is cruel when you go against the boss,” narrated Kapkory.

She further contends that although she reported the matter to Natembeya and even wrote a letter dated October 4, the governor ignored and or disregarded her communication and instead proceeded to tacitly endorse the said threats by making public utterances meant to further damage her dignity.

Formal communication

“Following my formal communication to the governor through the letter, one of the communication’s officer attached to the governor’s office, went ahead to record and circulate a video in which he directly addressed me. In that video, the official is heard abusing me using unprintable words and threating to deal with me.”
Kapkory, in her narration, charged that despite receiving communication from her, the governor never took any action.

Instead, the county boss joined in the public vilification, giving public speeches meant to defame, demean and further disrespect her.

“In the video clips, the governor can be heard uttering words meant to spur ethnic animosity, incite communities against each other, and create a false impression that a certain community is under threat or attack. The impression created in one of the video clips is that members of a community were armed with dangerous weapons and that him (the governor) is being targeted,” she claimed.

Kapkory further claims that although she reported the issue to the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) at Muthangari Police Station and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), DCI is yet to take action, one month down the line, despite follow-ups.

She further claimed that the former Deputy Governor handed over to her the keys to the official residence of the Deputy Governor on in August last year, but the office was blocked.

She disclosed that Natembeya’s spouse was later allocated the same house as her office and that she has never been given an alternative official residence.

Yesterday, Kapkory claimed that she has constantly been sidelined in key meetings and functions.
“I have never been accorded a meaningful opportunity to discharge functions effectively. The governor has sidelined me in the issues of county governance, and he has subjected me to bullying, intimidation and mockery by junior county staff,” she said.

In addition, Kapkory claimed further that the county chief has been encouraging and condoning insubordination and disrespect by some members of the Executive and junior staff, arbitrary reduction and delay of budgetary facilitation for legitimate operations of her office.

“All my efforts to reach the Governor through phone calls and messages have borne no fruits. The Governor has not been responding to my communication. Instead, he communicates to me through the County Secretary and other junior officers including the Chief Officer in charge of Governance.”