Dennis Onsarigo Quits County Job, Lifts Lid on Office Politics

Renowned journalist Dennis Onsarigo has resigned from the position of Chief of Staff at the office of Amos Nyaribo, the Governor of Nyamira County.

In a letter dated January 10, Onsarigo said his decision was prompted by a deliberate strategy that has impeded service delivery in the governor’s office.

“As you may be aware, I made several attempts, more than six times, to seek audience with you to discuss an elaborate plan on how best the office of the chief staff would function in the execution of your manifesto while supporting other departments in aligning their short and long plans largely drawing their strengths from the mother manifesto, unfortunately this did not materialize,” read the letter in parts.

Onsarigo recalled an instance where Governor Nyaribo was forced to stop at a petrol station waiting for his official vehicle to be fueled by an accounting officer.

This was despite the governor’s never -ending steps of reprimanding the officer, according to Onsarigo.

He also cited several instances where the governor’s team including drivers could go for months without their allowances despite the controller of budget releasing the monies in their name.

Dennis Onsarigo-Governors Comfort

The former KTN journalist revealed how Nyaribo made him fail in his plan to put in place measures aimed at making the governor’s personal comfort and security of utmost priority.

“The plan to refurbish the office of the governor, build a modern toilet to save us from embarrassing episodes of panic when we have many visitors paying us a visit was also not a possibility. The washrooms’ renovations have failed to capture the most essential part of what constitutes a functioning washroom: running water and toiletries. The washroom can only be utilized as a urinal for men, side-lining women guests and staff,” read the letter.

Also Read: MCK Condemns Fights and Bad Blood Among Journalists

Staff Rebellion

Onsarigo also wanted to brief the governor that his office had suffered deep mistrust and open rebellion from the staff and the county civil service.

“This widely held view that the donor funded projects monies / single sourcing of contracts among other lucrative projects are avenues to divert public funds have been of grave concern to me and a chance to dispel these baseless allegations would have been possible if you had given me the much -sought audience for the last one year,” he said.

Also Read: Push for Journalists to be Paid Millions After Raid Gains Momentum

Bribe Claims

Dennis Onsarigo sasked the governor to address the claims that parents to the youth applying for jobs in the county government have to pay bribes in order for them to secure a job.

The journalist had also proposed the creation of the position of an office administrator domiciled in the governor’s office to improve on service delivery and support government relations.

Onsarigo’s  Earlier Warning

He explained that his presence as Chief of Staff has become unconducive for normal operations in the office hence the decision to leave.

“I expressed my fears to you not once but severally that “it will get to a point where I will be viewed as incompetent not because of incompetence’s sake but a regime unwilling to accommodate new and bold ideas and one that is captive to a past riddled with self -engineered setbacks,” he said.

He expressed plans to return to Nyamira County in a different capacity and under different circumstances.