By Judith Gicobi
Governors have been advised by the Ministry of Devolution not to overextend County budgets in order to congratulate President-elect William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
The ministry stated in a statement on September 7 that counties may be financially burdened as a result of Governors’ costly congratulations to the new leader.
“Following this pronouncement, leaders from across the Globe have continued to send congratulatory messages to the President-elect and the Deputy President-elect. Among the messages received, are those from the County Governments, both on social media and in the Daily Newspapers. It is noted that these adverts are expensive and risk creating financial burden to the Counties involved,” the statement said.
It reminded Governors that that “public money shall be used in a prudent and responsible way.”
“In light of the above and also in line with advice from the President-elect, these congratulatory adverts are hereby discouraged with immediate effect. Counties wishing to send congratulatory messages are encouraged to explore cheaper alternatives such as social media,” it said.
After the Supreme Court validated William Ruto’s election on Monday, several governors have subsequently run full-page congratulatory adverts in the regional dailies.
The congratulations messages for the governors who were the first to reserve an advertisement spot appeared on Tuesday. Some ran on Wednesday and Thursday as well.
Some people have posted congratulations on social media.
