Tachoni leaders fault sacking of county executive

By DANIEL PSIRMOI and ROBERT WANYONYI

Bungoma, KENYA: Leaders from the Tachoni community in Bungoma have faulted the impeachment of the County Executive member in charge of Roads and Public Works by the county assembly.

Led by John Musakali, the minority leader in the assembly, the leaders termed the impeachment of Stephen Nendela last Wednesday as witch-hunt against the Tachoni, who are a minority group in the region. Nendela is the first member of  the government of  Governor Kenneth  Lusaka to face the wrath of local Members of County Assembly (MCAs).

Speaking over the weekend at Ndivisi Girls High School in Webuye East Constituency, Musakali said  the motion of sending away the official, a sole representative of the community in the executive was in bad faith and driven by malice.

DEATH OF STUDENT

“The motion passed by my colleagues in the assembly was a total misuse of tyranny of numbers by one community which has majority MCAs in the house to elbow the Tachoni community from the county leadership,” said Musakali during the launch of a multipurpose hall at the school.

 Musakali said the motion sponsored by Soysambu ward representative Geishom Namasake, was crafted with ill motive and feared it may cause tension between the two communities.

 His sentiments were supported by Mihu ward representative John Nanyakha who said they will soon hold a meeting with members of the community to find a way forward. 

Meanwhile a Form One student at Bungoma Muslim Secondary School died at the County Hospital car parking area in unclear circumstances that have put the facility in the spotlight.

The girl, who was yet to be admitted, is said to have succumbed to her illness within the parking area of the hospital as her father desperately looked for a ward to have her admitted after allegedly being ordered to do so by the nurses on duty.

FIND WARD

“I arrived at the hospital with my daughter when she was in a very bad state. Shockingly, the nurses instructed me to go look for a ward to have her admitted,” said Mr Cheng’oli Kiboi, the father to the girl adding:

“While I was still searching, I was informed my daughter had died in the car. I came back immediately and indeed confirmed that she was dead and we left for home to commence preparations for the burial which will be held on Wednesday (tomorrow).”

But the acting medical superintendent Dr Cleophas Kubasu termed the allegations untrue.

“The girl had been admitted in the hospital on three other occasions after she attempted to procure an abortion from a quack that however went awry prompting the foetus to die in her womb. I think the parents didn’t know of that development, so her death was purely caused by the complications that arose from the unsuccessful abortion,” explained Kubasu.

The hospital’s director, Dr Maurice Wakwabubi could not be reached for comment as he did not pick our calls to comment on the matter, neither could he respond to text messages sent to his mobile phone.

The incident comes barely a year since the government effected major changes at the institution due to a national outrage after KTN showed a video of a woman who was being accosted by nurses while in her final stages of labor.

Bungoma County executive for Health Grace Khayota expressed shock at the reports and promised to launch investigations.

“It’s shocking and sad that such behaviour is still happening. I intend to get to the root of this matter!” said Khayota.