NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 10 – Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi has ignited fresh controversy after publicly endorsing claims made by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, accusing leaders from Northern Kenya of massive corruption and failure to deliver development.
In a post on X, Ahmednasir described Gachagua as “an unapologetic Kikuyu supremacist and a tribalist,” but said the former deputy president was nevertheless correct in his assessment of leadership failures in Northern Kenya.
Ahmednasir alleged that leaders from the region have misappropriated vast public resources allocated since the introduction of devolution in 2013, claiming that nearly Sh1 trillion in public funds cannot be properly accounted for.
“Northern Kenya leaders are thieves who steal from their people and invest public funds in Nairobi,Northern Kenyan leaders can’t account for about Kshs 1 trillion given to the region since devolution started in 2013. Northern Kenya leaders have not built world class institutions ie schools, hospitals etc,”he said.
.He also claimed that funds meant for grassroots development, including the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), had been misused, and alleged that many elected leaders from the region including Members of County Assembly reside permanently in Nairobi rather than the counties they represent.
Citing counties such as Garissa and Marsabit, Ahmednasir questioned how billions of shillings disbursed under devolution had been spent, arguing that corruption had persisted with little accountability.
While acknowledging that Gachagua’s remarks were politically driven, Ahmednasir said the criticism of Northern Kenya leadership was factual and long overdue.
“Look at Garissa and Marsabit. Where did Kshs 300 billion in devolution money go to? Leaders steal money left, right and centre and nothing happens. Gachagua is playing politics, but when he talks about Northern Kenyan leaders and how they have let down their people he is being truthful and i’m with him,”he noted.
However, Ahmednasir’s stance drew immediate pushback from legal scholar Prof Makau Mutua, who rejected any attempt to validate Gachagua’s claims, warning that legitimate accountability debates should not be framed through what he termed ethnic supremacist rhetoric.
“We don’t need to use the bilious words of a toxic, splitist, tribal bigot and ethnic supremacist to validate what we already know,” Mutua said in a response posted shortly after.
Mutua argued that political figures who deploy divisive language should only be cited to expose and condemn their conduct, not to advance governance arguments.
Gachagua had accused leaders from northern Kenya of neglecting to develop educational institutions in their regions despite receiving billions of shillings in devolution funds.
In a statement on Friday, January 9, Gachagua challenged northern Kenya leaders who have criticized his calls for regional considerations in school placements, arguing they have failed to utilize resources allocated to their counties.
“Let leaders from northern Kenya not lecture us about affirmative action. Devolution has been in place since 2013, and leaders from those regions have deliberately refused to develop institutions. Yet they want their children to enjoy the facilities of institutions that have been put by other leaders in other counties,” Gachagua stated.
The former Deputy President cited specific figures to support his argument, noting that since 2013, Wajir County has received Ksh99.6 billion, Marsabit County Ksh76.83 billion, Garissa County Ksh81.7 billion, and Mandera County Ksh119 billion.
“They have the opportunity to develop institutions of the highest standards possible in Kenya, not just for the children of those areas but for the children of Kenya. I traveled as deputy president to those areas and I don’t see any institutions despite the massive funding that taxpayers have channeled to those counties,” he said.
Northern Kenya counties have consistently been allocated substantial resources to address chronic underdevelopment, yet many continue to lag behind in healthcare, education and infrastructure indicators.
While anti-corruption agencies have investigated several county governments across the country, critics say enforcement has been uneven, with few high-profile convictions.
