Drama As Kericho Governor, His Deputy Clash Openly During Madaraka Day Celebrations

The Madaraka Day Celebrations in Kericho county on Thursday turned out to be a platform for Governor Erick Mutai and his deputy Fred Kirui to wash their dirty linen in public.

It began when the deputy governor took to the podium to address the gathering during which he raised concern over his group being sidelined in the running of the government.

He said there is a need to accommodate all those who worked hard in the formation of the county government without sidelining any camp.

Kirui was vying for Kericho's governor but he changed his mind at the eleventh hour to back the Governor and be his deputy.

He has however complained that his side which heavily campaigned for the seat has not been given a share of the government.

"We should know that there are those who voted for me and those who voted for him. We should know that this is a coalition government. I respect the governor and I want to ask him to also respect me and all these issues will be sorted," Kirui said.

He went on to expose what he termed as unfair treatment and seclusion in the running of the government.

He said the mistreatment had become so terrible that he is forced to foot the expenses of his office.

"The governor knows the agreement we signed. I dropped my bid to be his deputy, and as I have said, I have been using my money to fuel my cars," he further said.

The remarks appeared to have irked the Governor who lashed out at his deputy for trivialising the National celebrations.

Mutai asked him to "mature" and address his issues at the office instead of laying them bare before the public.

"I am saying that you must not bring issues to the public for discussion. It makes us look stupid. Let us mature.  There is no agreement between me and Kirui; the only agreement we have is with citizens. We can address these issues from the office," he said in a rejoinder.

He added:

"You have two vehicles and an escort car. I only have one. We can increase the number to three and help your office with whatever you want. We can double the fuel from 150 to 300 litres."

The two leaders have not been on good terms since they the won elections.

Trouble started after the over nor failed to honour an agreement signed ahead of the polls which entailed sharing of positions in the government.