Leave me out of Machakos row, says VP Kalonzo

Tuesday, 10 May 2011 00:07 BY WAMBUA KAVILA

NOT ME: VP Kalonzo distances himself from chamber issues.

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has distanced himself from the ongoing wrangles at the Machakos branch of the Kenya national chamber for commerce and industry."Please leave me out of the politics of the Machakos chamber branch as I have nothing to do with it," he said at Mumbuni in Machakos town.
He expressed concern that his name had been dragged into the local chamber politics where two factions have been fighting for supremacy in the past fortnight.
Kalonzo said he had just returned from India and had not been in the country over the past week when the wrangling had intensified. The VP was speaking to the press at Scott Theological College after attending the 46th graduation ceremony where he was accompanied by Mwala MP Daniel Muoki and his Makueni counterpart Peter Kiilu.
After the function, the VP consulted his Machakos aidees, Dee Kivuva and Peter Muting'a before boarding a helicopter to Nyeri for another function.
Over the past two weeks, Machakos chamber branch has been rocked by wrangling with a section of businessmen refusing to accept branch elections held on April 21 where Reuben Muange was elected chairman and Ngunga wa Ngunga the vice chairman.
A faction led by Simon Kitheka disputed the polls and held demonstrations in Machakos town claiming due process was not followed during the elections.
The national office has complicated the matter further by issuing contradictory letters to the two factions but by yesterday,the national office still recognized the April 21 polls which has seen those elected open an office in the town and a bank account.
The two factions have gone political with one claiming to be aligned to ODM-Kenya and accusing their rivals of getting backing from ODM in a bid to wreck Kalonzo's influence.
During the graduation, the VP told the graduands to explore ways of reaching the soul of those that they will serve in order to influence them positively for permanent transformation.
He urged Scott college to develop courses that will help the graduands understand the psyche of the people better and deepen their christian walk to the point where  a christian culture will be supplanted in their DNA. "Once that happens, Kenya will cease being lumped as part of the Africa continent where christianity is said to be wide, yet to shallow' the VP said.