Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria on Friday issued an apology to President Uhuru Kenyatta over remarks he made on New Year’s Eve about underdevelopment in Central Kenya.
In a video which has since gone viral, Kuria was seen criticizing President Kenyatta for allegedly launching development projects in other parts of the country but neglecting his own home turf.
“Mimi nataka kusema hivi, tukifungua mwaka wa 2019 nyinyi mfikirie sana. Sisi mambo yetu ni kupiga kura, baada ya kupiga kura maendeleo tunapatiana kwingine,” said the outspoken legislator in the December 31, 2018 clip.
(This is what I want to say, as we usher in 2019 we must think very seriously. Our job is to vote, and then afterwards development goes to other areas.)
However, speaking to the press on Friday, the Jubilee point-man said his statement was taken out of context, further assuring that his relationship with the President is still solid.
“I have a long history with the Head of State and we know each other very well. We have worked together every step of the way… so for people to come and to purport to know how my relationship with the Head of State is is misleading,” he stated.
“I refuse to be sidetracked by those people… I have never disrespected the Head of State. If in any case any word I uttered could have been misconstrued in a bad way, I offer my profuse apologies to the Head of State and to anyone who would want to misconstrue… because that was not my intention.”
Kuria further stated that his battle concerning underdevelopment in the area was not with President Uhuru Kenyatta but with the county leadership, led by Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu and Woman Representative Gathoni Wamuchomba.
According to the MP, when the president is invited by leaders in other regions he always has goodies for them, unlike in Kiambu where he accused Governor Waititu and Wamuchomba of priding themselves in “fighting against alcoholism.”
Kuria’s apology also came a few hours after elders from his constituency, in a presser at Kimunyu Cutural Centre, dismissed his utterances and described them as “unfortunate, reckless, irresponsible and displayed total lack of respect for the Head of State.”
The elders, in a statement read by Simon Kamau Muhoho, said they appreciate the development agenda the President has initiated throughout the country including Gatundu South constituency such as roads, hospitals, and electricity connection in rural areas.
They further asked the MP to apologize to the President within seven days failure to which action would be taken against him.