Alfred Mutua will be discarded like a soiled napkin - Wavinya Ndeti

Wavinya Ndeti spoke about Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua’s ‘PR administration,’ why Jubilee shouldn’t be fooled by crowds in Ukambani and the reason she didn’t relocate to Nigeria when she got married

Have you had fun with the ‘Yaliyondwele Sipite’ phrase like Kenyans did?

(Laughs) Yes, I am enjoying it like any other Kenyan. It brought out my true Kamba-ness -direct injection from Kamba to Swahili. It is innovative, please help me patent it!

What happened to Konza City?

The dream of Konza City was killed by the ‘imaginary Konza City’ that never was. I promise to revive and support it. It will create employment and offer business opportunities, besides being home to many.

How would you rate Governor Alfred Mutua’s performance?

Mutua has failed in a big way. His purported plans to have showers in every household, solar lighting and greenhouses went up in smoke.

The tractors he bought are grounded for lack of fuel and technical maintenance, the Dubai jobs he promised our youth remain a pipe dream, Machawood programme meant to employ 5,000 people is long dead, the ndengu market to Dubai is also not viable.

Health centres are ill-equipped, security vehicles have been grounded while others are used for private purposes. The governor has even given out security dogs to his friends!

Markets have been left unfinished, the ambulances are not equipped and are just moving shells, he has failed to construct ECDE (Early Childhood Development Education) classrooms and employ ECDE teachers, while toilets in major towns remain largely non-operational.

The long and short of it is that Governor Mutua has sabotaged Machakos County’s economy. He is the worst thing that ever happened to Machakos residents.

What is your view of Mutua’s leadership style?

Mutua’s biggest failure is creating an empire of deceit and publicising it to a level where gullible people started believing his narrative. He is an illusionist who does small things and hypes them to appear big. Machakos has actually lost five years to self-serving PR and personal glorification.

Development is not something you need to buy TV airtime to advertise. With tangible development, wananchi will see and feel it.

In my opinion, Mutua lacks basic administration skills. That explains why almost five years down the line, there are so many administrative lapses and his administration is dysfunctional.

Dysfunctional? What do you mean?

For instance, the two major water companies - Machakos Town Water and Sewerage Company and Mavoko Water and Sewerage Company - are staring at imminent collapse.

The largest single consumer of water is the County Government of Machakos, which in turn has not been paying for water. All the county establishments have been consuming water since 2013 without paying for it.

Three quarters of the county’s fleet of vehicles is currently grounded due to lack of a fuelling plan.

There is a stalled project in every ward, be it a dispensary, market shed or an ECDE classrooms block. The contractors abandoned the projects due to non-payment. All the major towns - Mlolongo, Athi River and Machakos - are choking in uncollected garbage.

In summary, Mutua’s leadership is a total rot that has been consistently covered up in a lot of PR, but then again, I am happy the people of Machakos know the truth and are ready for change. Mutua will be discarded like a soiled napkin.

What would you have done differently?

First, my administration would have been guided by a people-centred leadership style, in which residents are consulted and involved in the development agenda.

I would engage a bottoms – up approach to understand the challenges facing our people and robustly address them. A sober governor would tailor development based on the needs of the people, and that is what I will do.

Would you abandon some of his ongoing projects?

No. Those are public resources, so we will protect and make them better.

The governor is on record saying the votes you garnered during Wiper party nominations were ‘cooked’...

That is now history and the people decided accordingly. My focus now is on the August 8 and how I will serve the people of Machakos thereafter.

How come Uhuru and Ruto draw large crowds in Ukambani yet it is a Nasa stronghold?

The Kamba community is naturally accommodating, but don’t be fooled by the crowds.

Katune (colour red, which is Jubilee’s nickname) has no votes here. Don’t forget that Nasa is also drawing large crowds in Jubilee strongholds such as Bomet, but on August 8, Kenyans will decide.

Why do you want to become Machakos governor?

I want to change the lives of the people of Machakos County by rolling out a development model that is responsive to the wishes and aspirations of the electorate and which fully involves wananchi on the journey to transform our county.

The guiding principle of devolution is taking resources closer to the people, establishing dialogue with the people to know what specific needs they want addressed and committing resources to execute the projects.

If for example people want good and well-stocked hospitals but instead you buy ambulances without a sustainability plan and repaint the hospitals without equipping them or stocking up supplies, you will not have solved the problem. Rather, you would have just covered it up.

This tells you that even as I roll out my development agenda, a lot of efforts will also go into cleaning up the mess left by Mutua. I want to create a system that is functional, efficient and pro-wananchi.

What do the people of Machakos want and what will you do about it?

The people of Machakos want the basics - water, functional health facilities, support for the agricultural sector and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

My administration will ensure there is water and food security, extend support to schools for capacity building and improve healthcare.

Have you made up with deputy governor Bernard Kiala after the acrimonious nomination process?

I have never had any personal differences with honourable Kiala. Political competition is such that in every contest, there must be winners and losers. Nothing is unique about Kiala’s case.

What I would urge is for him to join and work with us in the interest of the wananchi whom we both wanted to serve.

Your husband was Nigerian. Why didn’t you settle in his country?

The world is a global village. We agreed as a family that I stay here. Matrimonial issues are personal and mutual.

How are you coping with his loss?

God took him away from me and He has given me comfort, although I think about him every day.