Tension is brewing between Mount Kenya politicians over the recent appointment of Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Andrew Mwihia Karanja by President William Ruto.
The appointment of the CS has led to a debate between Kikuyu Member of Parliament Kimani Ichung’wah and Kiambu Senator Karungo wa Thang’wa.
Senator Karungo on Wednesday, September 4, hit back at Ichung’wah for claiming that Kiambu MPs were involved in the submission of names of individuals for appointment to different CS positions.
In a statement, the Senator noted that the sentiments were misleading.
Additionally, he stated that if it were up to him, he would not have presented the Agriculture CS for appointment.
“It is misleading for the Kikuyu MP to suggest that all Kiambu MPs were involved. If I had been consulted, I would not have proposed the current CS for Agriculture, as I am not familiar with him,” stated Senator Karungo.
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Karungo on Mount Kenya Appointments
Further, the Senator stated that he was not consulted in the selection of the cabinet Secretaries hailing from Kiambu county.
“As an MP representing Kiambu County as their Senator, I want to clarify that I was not consulted in the selection of the new Cabinet Secretary from our county, nor was I invited to participate in that process,” he added.
Karungo compared the appointed CSs with individuals nominated from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, explaining that there were better candidates from the county to match up.
“While ODM put forward notable names such as Joho, Oparanya, Bandi, and Wandayi, I could have recommended prominent figures from Kiambu,
“Including Moses Kuria, Kabogo, Waititu, Nyoro, Maara, Waikenda, Jungle, Wakanyi etc. In summary, I did not attend the meeting organized by Ichung’wah regarding the selection process for Kiambu.”
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Andrew Karanja Speaks on Association Linturi’s PA
During his vetting, the CS addressed reports of being a Personal Assistant to the former CS Mithika Linturi.
The Cabinet nominee noted that he has worked in the public sector, including working in many counties as a consultant, evaluating programs managed by different agencies in the livestock sector.
“You enquired on how I have interacted with the Public sector. I started as an extension officer from the grassroot, went all the way to becoming a planning officer and as an Economist in coffee research and of late as a member of the coffee taskforce on reforms,” he said.
“Being a PA, this one caught me off guard and surprisingly Mr. Speaker sir for the record and honorable members I have never met the former minister for Agriculture,” he said.
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