Governor Mutua denies ‘youth-for-hire’ claims
By NAIROBI NEWS TEAM
Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has claimed that a crowd which demonstrated in his county to demand “appearance fees” for attending his rally on Saturday evening was hired by his political opponents.
The Governor also claims he did not pay a single cent to the four major media houses which covered the said rally live. It was during the rally that Dr Mutua unveiled a movement dubbed “Maendeleo Chap Chap”.
Hundreds of youth stormed the streets of Machakos town on Saturday evening in protest, saying that Dr Mutua’s handlers had gone back on a pledge to pay them for attending the rally.
Some of the protesters vowed to teach Dr Mutua a lesson by supporting his opponents.
The Machakos governor however charged back during an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday night saying: “I do not pay for audiences. Everyone came to the rally on his or her free will. All those protests were choreographed by my enemies. You can see the camerawork was done poorly and it was late at night. Media houses must have been compromised to air that clip.”
On who forked out cash for the event’s live coverage by the media, Mutua said: “I only used little money, about Sh3 million to organize for the event. The rest, including the advertising and media fees, was paid for by well wishers.”
The governor, who hinted the possibility of quitting the Wiper Democratic Party because he feels “wanted” there, however, ruled out his chances of contesting for the Presidency in 2017.