Alfred Mutua speaks after Lilian announced end of their relationship

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Alfred Mutua speaks after Lilian announced end of their relationship

Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua has broken the silence just hours after his wife, Machakos First lady Lilian Nganga announced the end of their long-term relationship Sunday.

Mutua took to Instagram saying that Lilian was a blessing to him in the relationship and they decided to disengage 2 months ago. The governor however noted that they remain friends and continue to talk, meet and exchange ideas.

“There is a song by Roger Whittaker that has the line: ‘the first time we said hello, we started to say goodbye.’ Lillian and I have been a blessing to each other. Two months ago, we decided to slowly disengage. We are in amicable terms and remain very close as friends. We will continue to talk, meet and share ideas constantly.” Mutua said.

Mutua celebrated Lilian as an excellent First Lady who she will continue seeking advice from as he completes his term as Governor and runs for president.

“Lillian has been an excellent First Lady and even though she will do some projects under the Lillian Nganga foundation, we have agreed she can continue with her county projects. She will be a close advisor as I Govern Machakos County and run for President because I trust her sharp insight and heart. She has always been my number one fan. Our Love for each other is permanent but I think at times, space and new directions are important.” Mutua went on.

“I thank God for bringing Lillian into my life and the many ways we have made each other grow. We have had a laugh and at times a tear but all in all we have been a power couple and very happy. We celebrate life and are pleased that we have reached this decision in a mature, agreeable manner. I am a happy and blessed man and we have agreed we will protect and support each other. ” Mutua concluded.

Lilian Nganga divorces Governor Mutua, drops Machakos first lady tag

Lilian Nganga divorces Governor Mutua, drops Machakos first lady tag

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Lilian Nganga divorces Governor Mutua, drops Machakos first lady tag

Machakos First lady Lilian Nganga has announced that she has divorced and ended her relationship with Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua.

Lilian who took to her Instagram Sunday afternoon said that the only constant thing In life was change and we must be present and aware to appreciate and embrace it.

“Winds of change blew my way and 2 months ago I decided to end my long-term relationship with Dr. Alfred Mutua, we had a good run and I am forever grateful to God he brought us together. We remain friends.” An Instagram post by Lilian read in part.

“With this, I put down the Machakos first lady cap and what an honor it has been to be of service. I will continue to do projects close to my heart, charity work, etc through the Lilian Nganga foundation as this has always formed who I am as a person.” She went on.

Lilian has in the last few months not been active even on social media and for a while has not been seen with Governor Mutua in public.

As the first lady, she frequently visited children’s homes and educated locals on cancer screening especially for women. Every end of the year, she hosted children’s homes in Machakos for a special Christmas treat.

Before knowing Lilian Nganga in 2011, the Governor was married to a Kamba-born Josephine Thitu Maundu for over 10 years. The two were blessed to have 3 children together before their marriage hit rock bottom in 2015 ending up in divorce.

Machakos university staff issue a strike notice

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Machakos university staff issue a strike notice

Over 500 Machakos University staff from different unions namely UASU. KUDHEIHA and KUSU have given a strike notice over what they termed as the administration not listening to their grievances.

According to Machakos University KUSU chair Muthama Karua, the unions blamed the vice-chancellor saying efforts to seek dialogue with the administration have not been successful.

“What has been happening is that we write letters and request for meetings and all those letters have gone unresponded except the last one which postponed the date of the meeting to 10th September,” Muthama said.

The 2017 CBA monies received by the university, the administration promised to pay from August but Muthama said they have not been involved as the local implementation committee and the meeting for 10th September the university will have already paid the money illegally.

“Our demands are very simple is that we have requested university management through our public petition to call us for a meeting within the next 7 days and if the meeting is not called within 7 days we will issue relevant notices for industrial action. It is notified in our public petition to the vice-chancellor.” The KUSU chair added.

The issue of promotions is among the major concerns raised by KUSU saying that some of the members have waited for 9 years despite having acquired master’s degrees.

The UASU Secretary-General Martin Kasina also blamed the administration that he said had made service delivery difficult for the staff.

“This university must be governed by existing documents, structures, policies, and procedures and I want to say that is not what we are seeing. The university is being taken over by cartels- some individuals who are rendering existing structures dysfunctional and irrelevant. We are against that.” He said.

“We want to say as a university should be most structured institution. We demand each office do its work and function and was mandated. It is difficult to access the vice-chancellor’s office, in fact waiting for an appointment you wait for long. We want an open door system.” Dr. Kasina went on.

Kitui county Assembly exposes rot in Ngilu’s flagship project KIYOSEC

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Kitui county Assembly exposes rot in Ngilu’s flagship project KIYOSEC

Nguni MCA Ngui Kiruru who chairs Kitui county Assembly Committee on Basic Education, Training and Skills Development Tuesday tabled a report at Kitui County Assembly on the inspection exercise of the youth training program (KIYOSEC) at Manyenyoni.

The committee in the report said despite the profits from KIYOSEC – (Kitui Youths Skills and Enterprise Centre) it was not clear where the money was going adding that youths were not being trained but exploited and paid 560 a day on average for the successful trainees.

The youths also meet their own lunch, transport, and accommodation costs and the county only meets their training expenses.

“Today I want to talk about the report I have tabled about KIYOSEC in Manyenyoni, Kitui township ward. We were given the task to go and establish what happens there as the training center commenced operations without a legal framework.” MCA Kiruru said.

“We saw taxpayers’ money going to KIYOSEC and it was not being used appropriately. There were also a lot of resources going to vocational training centers and ECDE for covid mitigation, when we went to KIYOSEC as a committee we were shocked because our children have been turned into laborers.” The Nguni MCA added.

According to MCA Kiruru, if KIYOSEC is a training center it should be registered as per the law and also not do business like it is doing now.

“We also found that their work is to make precast products used in road construction and general construction. They are badly paid and have poor working conditions. If that is a school let it be registered and have admission criteria, basic academic qualifications, ” He added.

In the report, the committee noted that the center was established without a legal framework and did not have budgetary allocations. 45 Million that was used to establish the center was made for clearing pending bills and improvement of vocational training centers across the county.

The entire management and administration of the KIYOSEC according to the MCAs were political appointees by the Governor. This the MCAs say it was difficult to establish their terms of employment, academic and professional qualifications.

“Despite the center realizing some revenue proceeds from the sale of cabro and other products, it does not adhere to the principle of prudency as no dispatch order books, delivery notes, bank slips, and bank statements were availed for reference.” The committee report went on.

The committee recommended a special audit by the Public accounts and investments committee noting that in case of misappropriation, the funding of the center to be halted.

Muthama sent me a bad message after telling him he will rest on my chest – Kalonzo

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Muthama sent me a bad message after telling him he will rest on my chest – Kalonzo

In February 2021 at the burial of Machakos AIC Bishop Bernard Nguyo in Mitaboni, Muthama and Kalonzo were involved in a near fistfight. This was after Kalonzo told Muthama that he would return his wife Kavindu to him as a senator and that he would come back to ‘Kalonzo’s chest’ before 2022.

Muthama who then seemed angered by the words stood heading to the dias where Kalonzo was speaking from and was stopped by MPs that were seated next to him.

During the Burial of Elias Musyoka in Mwingi, Muthama and Kalonzo met and it was a perfect opportunity for the duo to speak their hearts out.

Kalonzo said that Muthama was his brother despite sending a bad message to him after the Mitaboni incident.

“I told him he would return to my chest but he sent a very bad message to me telling me that he can’t rest in the chest of a coward like me,” Kalonzo said.

Kalonzo also noted that Muthama was the one who led talks in uniting him and Raila.”You were my lead negotiator with Raila whom you’re now saying we should cut our ties, but now I am negotiating for myself.” Kalonzo added.

The Wiper party leader also appreciated Muthama for being the chairman of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) but he boldly told him that if Wiper defeats his party he should be ready to come back home.

“Defeating William is my number one priority and I have reasons for it. For 24 years we supported Moi.” Kalonzo went on.

He added that Uhuru and Ruto shared 50 percent of each of the cabinet appointments but Ruto never gave any seat to a Kamba saying it was the first time Kambas did not have a minister.

“From the times of Ngei and Ngala Mwendwa, there is no time Kambas have failed to have a minister. Do not be deceived. Bottom-up, If you vote for them you will regret but God will not accept it.”

Kalonzo further warned Kenyans not to support Ruto and his bottom-up economic model saying that he is blackmailing Kenyans to ascend into power.

Ngilu taken to task Over 2019 Finance Office Fire and Pending Bills

Musyoki Emmanuel
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Ngilu taken to task Over 2019 Finance Office Fire and Pending Bills

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu Thursday (15th July) appeared before the Dr. Ochilo Ayacko chaired County Public Accounts and Investments Committee to answer audit queries from the Auditor General’s report for financial years 2018/19.

On the evening of 21st July 2019, a huge fire destroyed the Kitui treasury, directorate of economic planning, and records offices. During the fire, nothing was salvaged but firefighters from the County managed to put it out. A lot of crucial documents were lost in the fire and the issue came up during the senate grilling of Ngilu.

Senators sought to know the cause of the fire, the progress of investigations, and measures the county has since taken to get important treasury documents that were needed for auditing.

“This thing is going to be brought to an end to show the conclusion. And from our side am going to write a letter immediately asking the investigative officers to at least continuously report to us what they are doing. You know we all live in this country and you write a letter and you are told to wait.” Ngilu said.

Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua however noted that the County Executive was not the complainant but the DCIO is the one who started investigations and invited the county executive to record a statement.

“The matter is not for them it is for the DCIO.” Kiio defended the executive.

The chair Dr. Ochillo Ayacko called upon senators to come out clearly and assist the counties on the issues of fires as he had never been convinced by any governor on the issue of the fires.

Ngilu also defended herself by saying that, “From where I sit I have wondered why it is just the finance office that was burned down, why didn’t they burn the governor’s office or any other office? We need to ask ourselves.”

Senator Wambua also requested the governor to explain why the county has a lot of pending bills especially from the contractors who completed their work and were never paid. Ngilu answered that some of the cases of delayed payment were accrued from the previous Governor and some were not factored in the budgets then. She stated they were now having to fix them in the budget.

“We are squeezing it in our budgets today and I would like my honorable senator to know that I am as passionate as he is to make sure that the contractors are paid and I have met the contractors and pledged them that I’ll make sure that they are paid.”

However, Senator Wambua cautioned Ngilu not to blame former Governor Malombe saying that there is only one county government and she should know that the former Governor’s decision and her decision all affect the people of Kitui. Kiio noted Governments exist in perpetuity.

Ngilu blamed the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) that she says has never cleared any of the contractors for payment. The chair said that at least someone should be held responsible for the “reckless” then that has hurt many suppliers.

Inside Kitui county’s 12.49 billion 2021/2022 Financial Year Budget

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Inside Kitui county’s 12.49 billion 2021/2022 Financial Year Budget

Kitui county has an approved budget of 12.49 billion in the 2021/2022 Financial year. 4.2 billion (33 percent) is set to go to development and 8.3 billion recurrent expenditure (67 percent). Own source revenue was set at 850 million with the Assembly appropriation committee noting that some of the recommended measures to increase the revenue had not been implemented by the executive.

The health department got the lion’s share of the budget at 3.659 billion, general administration and wages will account for 215 million. Maternal and child health is allocated 196 million and curative services 3.22 billion.

The office of the governor was allocated 1.7 billion, 667 million will go to recurrent expenses notably 383 million for general administration and support services. 1.129 billion will go to development.

The department of Public service management and administration will get 542 million- 530 million in recurrent expenses and 12 million for development – county government administration and field services.

The agriculture, water, and irrigation department was allocated 1,385 billion, 485 million for recurrent expenditure, and 898 million for development. 362 million will go to crop development and management, 41 million agribusinesses and information management, 105 million for agricultural extension, and 563 million for water resources management.

Basic education, ICT, and youth got a budget of 756 million, 550 million for recurrent, and 206 million for development. 144 million will go to wage bill and general expenses, 422 million for ECDE and primary education, and 175 million for youth training.

Infrastructure, Housing, and Public works department will get 953 million in the 2021/2022 Financial year, 124 million will go to wages and general expenses, 33 million to housing development and human settlement, 38 million to government buildings, and 756 million to roads.

Trade, cooperatives, and investments department was allocated 426 million. Wages and general expenses account for 97 million, trade development and promotion 274 million, and cooperative development 54 million.

The environment, tourism, and natural resources department got an allocation of 266 million. 47 million will go to salaries and general administration,40 million to environment protection, and 36 million to tourism development. 19 million will go to power transmission and 90 million alternative energies.

Gender, sports, and culture department will get an allocation of 37 million, 94 million for sports, 37 million for culture, and 19 million for gender.

The county treasury was allocated 767 million, salaries and general administration 397 million, economic policy and planning 103 million, public finance management 242 million.

The county public service board has a budget of 37 million, county assembly service board 1 billion. 384 million will go to general expenses and 622 million legislation, representation and oversight.

Livestock, apiculture, and fisheries got 130 million budget, 63 million for salaries and general expenses, 2.6 million for fisheries and 64 million for livestock resources management.

Lands, physical planning got a 151 million budget, 53 million for salaries and general expenses, 98 million for land policy and planning. Kitui municipality has an allocation of 305 million, Mwingi town 113 million.

Inside the 12.05 billion Machakos 2021/2022 budget

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Inside the 12.05 billion Machakos 2021/2022 budget

Machakos County 2021/2022 budget was tabled Tuesday by Finance CECM Eng. Francis Maliti. The budget is totaling 12.065 billion, 8.28 billion going to recurrent expenditure, and 3.77 billion to development.

The Health Department is set to get the biggest chunk of the budget at 4.3 billion- 3.88 billion recurrent and 443 million development. 3.6 billion out of the 3.88 billion is going to salaries and the balance going to casuals, electricity, fuel, and lubricants, and operations and maintenance, and other recurrent expenses.

Road, Transport and Public works department has a budget of 1.42 billion. 197 million is for recurrent expenditure and 1.2 billion development. Under the recurrent expenditure, salaries are at 160 million and under the development budget, construction of roads takes a big chunk at 640 million, the Machakos airstrip takes 102 million, county buildings 200 million and building refurbishment 50 million.

The agriculture, food security, and cooperative development department has a budget of 784 million. 383 million for recurrent and 400 million development. 42 million in the recurrent budget is going to salaries. More than 10 million will go to purchase of seedlings, 21 million acquiring strategic stocks, artificial insemination 2 million, chicken and fish feeds 3 million.

The department of Water and irrigation has a budget of 464 million, 104 million recurrent, and 360 million development. New boreholes and equipping have a budget of 73 million, construction of weirs has been given 20 million allocation. 103 million will go to irrigation and 34.9 million to climate mitigation strategies. Salaries for the staff in the department will be 75 million.

The Finance and economic planning department has an allocation of 493 million, 465 million recurrent, and 27 million for development. The notable items include; 9 million for domestic travel and 385 million for employee salaries.

The public service department has an allocation of 428 million, 419 being recurrent and 9.3 million development. 6.8 million will go to the purchase of CCTVs, 101 million to NSSF payment, 100 million to insurance, 100 million as gratuity for contracted staff, 2.9 million to training.

Department of Tourism, Youth, Sports, and culture has been allocated 242 million, 124 million for recurrent expenditure, and 118 million for development. 8.9 million will go buildings under construction, 89 million salaries, 4.2 million travel allowances, 598,000 for purchasing staff uniforms, Machawood is allocated 3.8 million and 2.4 million sports promotion.

Trade, Industrialization and innovation department has an allocation of 281 million, 116 million recurrent and 165 million development. 51 million will go to salaries, 43 million for traveling and allowances, 15 million shillings for Jua kali shades, 7 million is budgeted for Machakos export centers with cold rooms, and 5 million rebranding Boda Boda shades and kiosks.

Education and social welfare department has an allocation of 503 million, 393 million recurrent, and 110 million development. 48 million has been set aside for ECDE centers, 50 million refurbishments of polytechnics, and 4 million for the construction of a gender-based violence center. 292 million will go to salaries and 80 million for bursaries.

The energy, lands, and urban development department has a budget of 438 million, 100 million recurrent, and 38 million development. 56 million will go to salaries, 12 million municipalities, 29 million for street and floodlights.

County administration and decentralized units has a budget of 533 million, 513 million is recurrent, and 19 million development. 476 million is budgeted for employee compensation, 3.7million travel, 8.6m to waste management, 10.2 million to inspectorate department,

The Office of the Governor has a 568 million budget. 565 million is recurrent and 3 million development.

The county assembly has a budget of 1.093 billion; 898 million recurrent and 195 million development. Purchase of office furniture has been allocated 10 million, construction of buildings 179 million and 25 million speaker’s residence. Ward offices are set to receive 45 million. Employee salaries are set to be 89 million, 40 million for allowances, and 74 million for domestic travel.

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