Meru will not blindly support BBI, Kiraitu says

Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi has said he is undecided on whether he will rally the region to support the report by the Building Bridges initiative, because he is still in the dark over its contents.

He said there is a need to first scrutinise the document before making an informed decision. He further said that he will only support the report if it will benefit his electorate.

Addressing mourners at Kiraria Primary School in Meru during the burial of Francis Marete Mbogori, father of Weru TV CEO John Marete, Mr Murungi said he will not voice support for the report before analysing it.

“As of now, I am not supporting and I am not against BBI because I don’t know what is in it. If I see that it has benefits for the people of Meru, I will tell the people that it is good and we vote for it. If it is only meant to benefit others, we will reject it," Mr Murungi said.

On the 2022 polls, the governor said he will carefully interrogate presidential candidates to determine what they will offer Meru region.

“It is about our own interests. We are tired of preparing food, chewing it and only for others to swallow,” said Mr Murungi.

Meru Senator Mithika Linturi said it is wrong to start rallying people to support political actions meant to create more posts at the national level, instead of thinking about job creation.

He hit out at those criticising the notion of supporting ‘hustlers’ saying the “hustler debate was not about the rich and the poor,” but about uplifting the ordinary people.

Mr Murungi and nominated MP Halima Mucheke urged the youth to be careful not to be used by politicians to cause chaos, saying politicians had no permanent enmity or friendship.

The governor cited the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his erstwhile rival former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and his friendship with Igembe North MP Maoka Maore and the fall out with CS Peter Munya.

“In the campaigns we did, we said if Raila crosses a river, we can never drink it and now he is the one welcoming us to the State House.

“The next you meet him, because of the things you have been doing, you don’t know how to relate with him. This (politics) is a very strange business we are in,” he told the mourners.