There was confusion over the weekend over the authenticity of a letter attributed to Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata.
The open letter addressed to president Uhuru Kenyatta warned that the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) is extremely unpopular in central Kenya. The senator, who is also the Senate Majority Chief Whip stated that his own unscientific research over the festive season showed that only 2 in 10 people in his county supported BBI.
He warned the president that the initiative to make substantial changes to the constitution was doomed to fail.
Somehow the letter got its way to the media, eliciting mixed reactions. Some people thought that it was a forgery, which led the senator to make a clarification.
On Monday, Kang’ata acknowledged authoring the letter, but denied allegations that he had leaked it to the media.
“Kindly though the letter dated 30th December is authentic,I didn’t give it to the media.Someone else who had been copied did – I apologise for that.With the benefit of hindsight,I should have copied no one else. Trust substantive issues raised in the letter will be remedied,” he tweeted.
Kindly though the letter dated 30th December is authentic,I didn't give it to the media.Someone else who had been copied did – I apologise for that.With the benefit of hindsight,I should have copied no one else. Trust substantive issues raised in the letter will be remedied.
— Irungu Kang'ata (@HonKangata) January 4, 2021
Meanwhile, 10 governors from Central Kenya and the wider Mt. Kenya region attacked Kang’ata for authoring the letter.
“As a senior Member of Parliament and Jubilee party, Hon Kangata should have followed official government structures and procedures in his address to the President. Such breach of protocol is unacceptable and it raises questions why a senior member of the government leadership in parliament would choose this cheap populist method to address this issue to HE the President whose office is just a few steps away from parliament,” the group said.
They included: Kiraitu Murungi (Meru), Lee Kinyanjui (Nakuru) Ann Waiguru (Kirinyaga), James Nyoro (Kiambu), Nderitu Muriithi (Laikipia), Mwangi Wa Iria (Murang’a), Martin Wambora (Embu), Muthomi Njuki (Tharaka-Nithi) and Mutahi Kahiga (Nyeri).
