Wajir Governor denies EACC probe reports

Wajir, Kenya: Wajir County Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has said he will not be intimidated by some local politicians who want to derail his agenda for development.

Abdullahi, who has just returned from the US where he attended a forum with other governors, said there was a systemic campaign by "known" politicians to besmirch him and his administration, a move he vowed will not cow him.

The governor said recent media reports that he was facing abuse of office charges were "baseless, lies and pure propaganda" by his opponents who lost in the last General Election.

"The story seemed to have indicated that I was facing abuse of office charges, yet there are no such things," Abdullahi told The Standard in an interview.

In the story, Mr Mohamed Abikar who claims to be the chairman of an anti-graft forum in Wajir is reported to have accused the governor of gross abuse of office and urged the President to dissolve Wajir County Government.

Abdullahi said the people of Wajir know who is behind the smear campaign but vowed to continue working for those who elected him as governor.

"At times in politics, when you share the platform with some people, they can be intrinsically evil and they will always want to disrupt your agenda but in the fullness of time, we will expose them," he added.

He further noted the smear campaign was being funded by a local politician who is determined to undermine his administration.

My allegiance

"My opponents are envious of the development projects we are carrying out since they are not in charge of the county affairs. But let me assure them that I will not be intimidated as my allegiance is first to the people of Wajir who overwhelmingly elected me," he said.

The governor told his opponents that if they had any grievances against him, they were free to report to constitutional commissions like the Commission for Revenue Allocation, the Controller of Budget among others.

He told his detractors to keep off and give him time to deliver services to the people of Wajir who for many years been marginalised by successive governments.

"The people of North Eastern, and Wajir included, have for years not known any development but with devolution, our people have been rescued from the bondage of having to beg for development from the National Government and this does not seem to augur well with some people," he added.

The governor noted that he will continue to serve the people of Wajir County without fear or favour.

He said he will devote his energies to ensure what had been lost by the county for the last many years is restored through development projects.