Community leaders of Nkubu and its environs want the elevation of Nkubu to a municipality stopped.
Addressing BaiteTv on April 28 during an ad hoc meeting on the issue, the leaders said the county government needs further consultations with residents.
The leaders said there are several areas to be addressed including payment of land rates and subdivision of sub-counties.
Samuel Mbae, the leader of the Taita community said: “On behalf of the Taita community, I’ve come to address the claims that some people are making in order to persuade Taita residents to accept its elevation to Municipality.
We vowed to oppose the elevation indefinitely because we know that it will result in the confiscation of people’s properties. We are aware that people will begin paying land rates.
Mr Karinga is the person who sold us out in order for us to start paying land rates in Mwichiune, Kanyakine, Ntharene, Kamachege, Muujwa, Kariene, Uuko, and Mikumbune.
If Mr. Karinga believes he is man enough to speak on behalf of the people of Taita, he should visit Nkubu and arrange a meeting. We, the people of Ntaita, vow not to give up forever.
Our property will not be taken away while we watch. We gave the county government 120 acres of land. Is it not enough for the county government? What else do they expect from us? We will not give up even a single piece of land.
We urge women to strike a cooking stone before lighting a fire so that those who propose elevating Taita to the status of a municipality are cursed.”
Jacob Kinyua, the chairman of the Taita community said: “Since 2015, there has been no public participation in the process of elevating Nkubu to the status of a municipality. When it happened, it was at the DC office.
After a while, the people of Taita were invited to participate in public, and we were told to write a Memorandum. The meeting was held in Kaguru, but we had a disagreement.
It was agreed that the people of Taita should hold another public participation, and nearly 800 people attended. We delivered the memorandums to Meru’s county assembly.
The county assembly of Meru appears to be influenced by the governor, as the chairman filed a motion to make Nkubu a municipality despite being aware that there were 11 memorandums opposing its elevation.
Muujwa was the only constituency where a member from Nkubu and the surrounding area supported the elevation status. The public participation was not carried out properly, according to the Hansard statement. The contributions of the Taita MCA and minister were also excluded.
We were shocked to learn last week that the county assembly had passed legislation elevating Nkubu and its environs to the status of municipality, at the same time the governor was said to be in isolation after contracting covid-19.
Despite our repeated phone calls to the county assembly clerk to inquire about the status of the Taita memorandum, it appears that the county assembly took us for granted.
We have instructed our lawyer to file a lawsuit against the county assembly of Meru and Mr. Ringera. He was given the authority to engage the people of Taita in public participation.
We thought he was a gentleman until he defended himself, claiming it was due to pressure from above. We’re curious to know who is putting pressure on Mugambi because he was elected.
It implies that he was given handouts, which will not end well for him. We’ve had enough of Meru’s county assembly. We’re also curious to know who Mr. Karinga is speaking for.
He claims, without consulting the people, that the people of Abogeta have land to donate to the county government.”
Nicholas Mutwiri, the former councilor for Taita said: “The people of Ntaita are not opposed to development. We have educated and community members who can make their own decisions, but it appears that we are being taken for granted when our input is not considered.
We were debating the subdivisions of the sub-counties with the county government before the assembly passed the laws making Nkubu a municipality. The governor, chief of staff, and Mr. Karinga all advocated for Taita to be on one side of the road and another constituency on the other.
The fact that the county government never told us where the Nkubu town sewerage system would be located made me realize that they were lying to the people of Taita.
We suspect that the county government wishes to relocate Nkubu town due to public health laws imposed by the lack of a sewerage system. We wonder if Nkubu town will be expected to pump sewerage uphill once the sewerage system is built.
If the people of Taita had been involved in the decision-making process, they would have suggested that Nkubu be combined with the lower side of the road due to gravity, allowing people to conserve water.”
