Nyamira Governor John Nyagarama has been subjected to online ridicule moments after failing to express himself fluently in Kiswahili at Keroka on Sunday during the homecoming of Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire.
Nyagarama caused laughter to thousands of ODM supporters who had gathered in Keroka among them ODM party leader Raila Odinga when he persistently said that they have “monto momoja” instead of ‘mtu mmoja’ (one person) to vote for in the 2017 polls.
And the social media users on the Nyamira Facebook page challenged the Governor to polish his Kiswahili or use the local dialect, Ekegusii, aided by an interpreter during such functions.
“I was really mesmerised that our Governor cannot express himself fluently in Kiswahili. It was embarrassing. In fact, he should have instead resolved to address the people in mother tongue instead of embarrassing us,” read John Osiemo’s comment.
“They know that our Governor cannot speak good Kiswahili and so it’s good to bring interpreters to such functions so that we create additional jobs in the county,” added Phyllis Kerubo.
However, when contacted, County Secretary Erick Onchana defended the Governor saying it was a slip of the tongue, and urged residents to discuss issues affecting the county.
“I don’t really believe that when a Governor slips his tongue people should make it news. We are all human and sometimes we do err when speaking. It’s really a non-issue and nobody should even give that attention. We only want people to discuss real issues in our county,” he said.