Narok County Senator Ledama Ole Kina expressed his disappointment over the management and constitution of parastatal boards in Kenya.
Through a twitter post, the senator was displeased over what he termed as lack of inclusivity, stating that there was no ethnic balance as most boards did not represent the face of Kenya.
According to the senator, his reaction was in relevance to the new appointment of Macharia Irungu as the Managing Director for Kenya Pipeline Company.
He stated that the new appointments have been aligned to only one tribe hence tribalism yet the government is currently drumming support for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which is aimed to bring people together from across all regions.
Ledama stated that there was no justification as to why top appointments have been lined to be from one tribe, Kikuyu.
“This hypocrisy of inclusivity in Kenya must end! Kenyans wake up! How do you justify filling all positions with one tribe ? Kenya Power new MD is Kikuyu, KenGen MD is kikuyu , NTSA is kikuyu, REA is kikuyu the board of KPC has 4 Kikuyus out of 9 members! And you talk of BBI?” read the tweet.
This hypocrisy of inclusivity in Kenya must end! Kenyans wake up! How do you justify filling all positions with one tribe ? Kenya Power new MD is Kikuyu, KenGen MD is kikuyu , NTSA is kikuyu, REA is kikuyu the board of KPC has 4 Kikuyus out of 9 members! And you talk of BBI?
— Sen. Ledama Olekina (@ledamalekina) November 28, 2019
The tweet has ignited different debates, with Nyeri Member of Parliament Ngunjiri Wambugu dragged into a battling spat.
Wambugu accused Ledama of using the topic to seek political millage through spewing tribalism and hate.
“Senator. Wacha upuz. Kwani this country has only 6 parastatals. We will not allow you to build a profile as a Masai kingpin by selling Kikuyu-hate. No way my friend. Hiyo hatutambui, ” he tweeted.
Read Also: Gov’t Appoints Total Kenya Director of Strategy Dr Macharia Irungu KPC Boss
Senator. Wacha upuz. Kwani this country has only 6 parastatals. We will not allow you to build a profile as a Masai kingpin by selling Kikuyu-hate. No way my friend. Hiyo hatutambui. https://t.co/6cGUNeWgzk
— Hon Ngunjiri Wambugu, CBS, MP (@ngunjiriwambugu) November 29, 2019
However, Senator Ledama refuted back at Wambugu’s claims saying ,” Don’t think we are stupid … every policy in Kenya today is skewed towards benefiting your region. Mjinga ameerevuka! (The fools have turned wise) We will not allow you to fool us!”
The battle has ignited different reactions from netizens, some of whom were in support of the senator while others accused him of spreading tribal hate.
For instance, Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi asked the Narok senator to be careful of what he was spreading being that he was a politician and a person of interest,and asked him to follow the right channels in addressing his frustrations.
“Senator, please be fair… Jubilee through Uhuru gave your baba a job. If you have serious grievances please take it through the right channel…you have a very powerful representative on the high table,” read the tweet.
Read Also: Jubilee Mp, Ngunjiri Wambugu’s Message That Has Twitter Buzzing
On Friday November 29,the government announced Total Kenya’s Director of Strategy Dr Macharia Irungu as the managing director of the Kenya Pipeline Corporation (KPC).
He is set to replace Hudson Andambi who has been acting MD since December 2018, following the unceremonious exit of Joel Sang over graft allegations.
Through a statement by Cabinet Secretary for Petroleum John Munyes, Irungu beat the 88 applicants who were eyeing the position and emerged winner out of the 8 that were selected.
“Dr. Irungu, who scored highest during the final Board interviews, brings over twenty eight (28) years’ experience in the oil & gas industry, with eleven of the years spent at the highest levels of management,” read the statement.
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