Street signs celebrating President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and other leaders in Chuka town were defaced by unidentified people on Friday night.
Locals woke up to the ugly sign posts sprayed with black paint, fully concealing the street names.
The renaming of the streets after the leaders had sparked mixed reactions among the town’s residents.
Another defaced street sign in Chuka town, Tharaka Nithi County. An unidentified people defaced the signs that were celebrating Jubilee leaders. PHOTO | DAVID MUCHUI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Residents on Wednesday had questioned the criteria used to select the names of local leaders, including Senator Kithure Kindiki and Chuka/Igambang’ombe MP Muthomi Njuki.
A composite picture of two streets in Chuka town named for President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto. PHOTO | ALEX NJERU |NATION MEDIA GROUP
A resident, John Mutegi, told the Nation on Wednesdayhat locals were not consulted.
“We have heroes and heroines in our community like the Mau Mau veterans who should be honoured instead of very young politicians,” said Mr Mutegi.
Businesswoman Lucy Kaari said the business community should also have been consulted in the naming of the streets, which started last Saturday.
Tharaka-Nithi County head of communication Douglas Kaunda said the county government did not participate nor was it consulted on the issue.
“We were surprised to see signposts in town bearing some names,” said Mr Kaunda.
Town Administrator Boniface Murithi said the county has written to Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) demanding to know why the streets were named without their involvement.
On his official Facebook account, Prof Kindiki denied being consulted as one of the streets has been named after him.
“I do not believe a public facility should be named after me, not now, not in the future, because I have not yet made enough sacrifices to our community’s development to warrant a road being named in my honour,” said Prof Kindiki.
He said there are many leaders who made huge sacrifices and contributions to the community.
“I am writing formally to decline the honour in good faith for the sake of the leadership values I believe in,” he said.
-nation.co.ke
