Onyonka Unhappy with My Marriage – Arati Tells Senate Committee 

Governor Simba Arati Thursday cited his marriage to a foreigner among many reasons Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka was unhappy with him. 

Arati who appeared before the Senate’s Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committee meeting accused Onyonka of constantly going personal in his oversight of role of him.

So deep rooted are Onyonka’s personal biases, stated Arati, that he was not even happy with ‘my marriage to a Chinese wife’.

Onyonka, however, said he found the accusations ‘ troubling, grotesque, wild and playing into the comedy gallery’.

“I actually have no issue with the governor’s Chinese wife,” he stated.

The Governor was summoned to Senate Thursday explain the seemingly tardy absorption of development funds in his county.

The committee was especially interested in the 2022/2023 financial year.

Senator Onyonka described as perturbing the claims by his Governor before the Senate.

“I want the committee members to know that my concerns with my good Governor are purely based on governance and performance., nothing else. If he was performing i could have no problem with him,” stated Onyonka.

Arati further accused Senator Onyonka of defending former Kisii Governor James Ongwae due to familial ties, a claim that Onyonka firmly denied calling it baseless.

The charged session, was meant to address the low development expenditure by the Kisii County Government highlighting concerns about the county’s financial priorities but the frosty relationship between Arati and Senator Onyonka appeared to dominate the proceedings, overshadowing the substantive agenda of the summon of Mr Arati to the meeting.

For the better part, Governor Arati was hard pressed to explain about why critical development projects in the region had stalled despite the allocation of funds.

He was asked to provide detailed reports on the county’s expenditures and to prioritize transparency and development to benefit Kisii County residents.

Arati has been accused by most Senate Committees of exhibiting a pattern of deflective and confrontational behavior in most sessional meetings.

A Senate committee member described him as often steering discussions away from substantive issues by making personal allegations against his critics.

“Instead of addressing questions about governance and financial accountability directly, he frequently attributes criticism to personal or political vendettas, such as claiming bias due to his Chinese wife or accusing senators of ulterior motives,” the Senator said.