‘I won’t sing Ruto praises’: Natembeya claims his life is in danger

Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya claims that unnamed people are hounding him over his criticism of President William Ruto’s administration.

In an interview with Sulwe FM on Tuesday, Natembeya linked the Head of State to the team he said has been “following [him] around” because he refuses to “sing praises” to Ruto and his administration.

“If I have done any wrong, why not just face me? Following someone around is as if this country has no freedoms. It is as if, if you are not part of the choir singing praises to the President, you are bad. I will not accept that,” the governor said.

“It is my mouth, and I have freedoms. So long as Kenyans are suffering, I will continue to speak about their issues.”

The governor added that he will not be intimidated into silence, saying, “You are born once and die just once; you cannot live in fear forever.”

“I know he might send people to come kill me, but Mr President, I don’t care. I will always speak my mind. We mean well, and if they care, they will listen to what we are saying.”

Natembeya has been criticising Ruto’s regime over issues like healthcare, earning him criticism from the President’s loyalists, some of whom have accused him of sowing ethnic division in Western Kenya.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has even called for the governor’s impeachment.

Others, like former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who was impeached last October, have voiced support for the former Rift Valley regional commissioner.

Since the 2022 polls, he has been in a political supremacy battle with National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula over political influence in Western Kenya.