Deputy governors demand respect from their seniors

Nairobi, Kenya: Deputy governors have condemned last week's withdrawal of their Machakos colleague Bernard Kiala's official car and his security detail.

Last Monday, Mr Kiala claimed that his security and car had been withdrawn by the Machakos county government and he was forced to board a public service vehicle to Nairobi to attend the CORD Saba Saba rally.

But the Machakos county government has denied claims of political witch-hunting, clarifying that the move was taken to facilitate fitting of green number plates to the vehicle after removing the private white-and-yellow ones and that the Deputy governor was assigned another vehicle during the process.

Deputy county chiefs through their Deputy Governors Forum have urged Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua to adopt more rational and respectful ways of solving issues between him and his deputy.

In a statement, the deputy governors argued that there is need for their seniors to treat them with respect and engage them in consultation before making decisions touching on governance and leadership of the counties.

"We are saddened by the incident in which the Machakos deputy governor's official car and security were withdrawn without following the necessary procedures. The incident was demeaning and a sheer ridicule of the office of the deputy governor and it should be condemned in the strongest terms possible," said Joash Maangi, the secretary of the forum.

Mr Maangi said governors should stop seeing the deputies as spare wheels.