Samboja tells off bishops calling for his resignation
Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja has launched a scathing attack against religious leaders, dismissing them as “mercenaries” after the prelates called on him to resign over his push to dissolve the county government.
Samboja said he was not in the habit of engaging in pulpit politics but he could not allow clerics to cast aspersions on his integrity and commitment to fulfil his pledges to the electorate.
He said most of the bishops demanding for his resignation had earlier supported the decision to dissolve the county following a budget impasse with the county Assembly. “They were here with me and I shared with them my frustrations over the budget matter. They wholly supported the idea of dissolving the county government.”
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The unprecedented direct attack on men of the cloth came shortly after the Taita Taveta Bishops Association (TTBA) issued a hard-hitting statement on Tuesday criticising the governor for his unyielding stance on the dissolution of the county government.
TTBA is a consortium of bishops largely drawn from Pentecostal and evangelical churches in the county.
Budget crisis
Through the TTBA chair Bishop Ronald Itambo, the prelates alleged that Samboja had spurned all efforts to bring him to the negotiation table to unlock the budget crisis with the county Assembly.
“He refused to sit with the MCAs and other stakeholders to resolve this matter peacefully and this shows it is difficult for him to work with anybody who differs with him,” read parts of the statement by the bishops who opposed the move to dissolve the county as it would bring vital services to a halt.
In a rejoinder from his office in Wundanyi, Samboja termed the bishops as liars and extortionists bent on hawking from the crisis. He said some members of the Bishops association had been secretly calling his aides to plan for a meeting hoping to get some allowance. -KNA
