The woman Representative of Nyandarua County, Faith Wairimu Gitau, has criticized some political figures, accusing them of what she described as inciting young people to use violence for their own political gains.

Speaking at her home in Ndaragwa Constituency today, Gitau, who is also a commissioner of the Parliamentary Service Commission, claimed that some leaders are luring young people into stage-managed attacks at political rallies with money so they may get public sympathy.

She made these remarks as she called for sobriety in the political sphere in her New Year’s greeting to the Nyandarua people and Kenya as a whole. 

In her remarks, Gitau emphasized the progress that the Kenya Kwanza government has made thus far in the fields of energy, transport, health, education, and agriculture. 

Gitau said, “The Kenya Kwanza Government has accomplished a lot in the last two years. For example, the president, through his manifesto, streamlined the health sector by introducing the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) and Social Health Authority (SHA). As of right now, every Kenyan can get medical cover regardless of their financial status, and the cover pays for all diseases, including the chronic ones, which the previous insurance, NHIF, was not covering.”

According to Gitau, she has been a leading advocate for the welfare of her area of representation, stating that thousands of school-aged children have benefited from NGAAF bursaries and scholarships, in addition to providing free sanitary pads to schools throughout the county, and that she has been a great pillar for people with disabilities, with many of them empowered through her office.

The legislator added that through her efforts, she has been able to lobby in the national government to provide safe and clean water across the county, giving the example of the Simabra School borehole project. 

She went on to say that, despite the numerous challenges the country faced over the last year, the government is focused on delivering to Kenyans and will not be intimidated by a few individuals whose primary goal is to derail the government from implementing and fulfilling the promises made to Kenyans during the campaign period.

This comes after political realignment, particularly in the Mt. Kenya Region, following the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua, Kenya’s second deputy president, by a majority vote in both houses and the formation of a broad-based government. 

Gitau criticized unnamed political figures for fueling divisions in the Mt. Kenya Region, accusing them of employing misinformation to manipulate Kenyans for personal gain.

This comes days after a tear gas canister was hurled at the main dais in Shamata, Nyandarua, over the weekend, disrupting a meeting that was attended by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and his followers.

According to her, Nyandarua has been a peaceful county for many years because its leaders respect one another, but in recent months, foreigners have infiltrated the country, causing animosity and political instability by trying to impose and install their own ‘leaders’ on the people.  

“We do not want a few politicians to come to our county and incite young people to despise and denigrate their leaders. This is unacceptable, and we are not ashamed to stand with the government; they want us to follow them where? We placed this government in office, and we intend to stay; please leave Nyandarua out of selfish interests; we are working for the people who elected us,” she said.

At the same time, the lawmaker called on the youth to use social media responsibly in order to avoid contravening the law. She has, however, said that despite Kenya being a democratic country where freedom of speech is protected in the constitution, leaders should refrain from inciting young Kenyans to insult other leaders and rather use social media platforms for positive criticism.

”I’m encouraging our young people to use social media to constructively critique the government without disparaging individuals in positions of authority because they are also people with friends, family, and other relationships. Please don’t use derogatory words or inappropriate images. Even if you despise the administration, be careful what you share on social media,” Giatu advised.