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Vandals deface street signs bearing Uhuru, Ruto names


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.

Earlier this week, residents questioned the criteria used to select the names of local leaders, including those of Senator Kithure Kindiki and Chuka/Igambang’ombe MP Muthomi Njuki.

The two streets after President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto in Chuka Town in Tharaka Nithi County. PHOTOS | ALEX NJERU
The two streets after President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto in Chuka Town in Tharaka Nithi County. PHOTOS | ALEX NJERU

A resident, John Mutegi, told the Nation on Wednesday that 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.

PHOTO | ALEX NJERU
PHOTO | ALEX NJERU

“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.