MACHAKOS, Kenya, Nov 12 – Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has accused Senator Johnson Muthama of attempting to frustrate the Machakos City project because of a personal vendetta.

Mutua made the allegations in his response to a petition Muthama had filed in court seeking to stop any development from taking place on land set aside for the new Machakos City.

He contends that Muthama’s suit is frivolous and should be dismissed as it is based not on any real concern but as a ploy to frustrate Mutua’s term in office.

“He told me at a function during the elections campaign period that he would never support my plans since I did not kneel down before him and seek his permission before declaring my candidature,” Mutua states.

He went on to state that should the court fail to dismiss Muthama’s petition, the residents of Machakos would be unfairly punished as Machakos City is expected to attract up to Sh1.3 trillion in investments.

He charged that Muthama’s motives for filing the petition were not entirely honourable.

“When some people first heard about the project they called me in panic saying we should cut deals but I will not gamble with the future of Machakos residents,” Mutua said last week during the launch of the Machakos City project.

And it is for this reason that Muthama has now threatened to drag Mutua back to court for defamation of character; for implying that the Senator is only interested in using the Machakos City project to line his pockets.

The rivalry between the two therefore doesn’t look likely to abate in the near future despite efforts by their party leader Kalonzo Musyoka to get them to bury the hatchet.

At the Machakos City launch President Uhuru Kenyatta himself encouraged county leaders to put their differences aside in the interest of their constituents.

“The Governor has told me over 5,000 men and women from Machakos are already actively engaged as a result of the works that are going on here. These are young men and women who had nothing to do yesterday and now are gainfully employed…why would you want to stop something like that?” he posed.

Mutua and Muthama will now battle it out in court appearing before Justice Weldon Korir on November 20.-capitalfm.