SUSPENDED EWASCO MD reinstated amid standoff

 THERE was drama at the Embu Water and Sanitation Company (Ewasco) in Embu town when the suspended Managing Director Felix Mutuura reported back to work after he was cleared by Ewasco Board of Directors and the Water Service Regulatory Board (Wasreb).

The Acting Managing Director Dickson Njiru was taken back by surprise when the former MD who was serving suspension term showed up in his office and took over his duties.

It is during the altercation that several residents stormed into the Ewasco offices and demanded an explanation on whether the wrangles will affect water supply in Embu Municipality. Water has been disconnected before over leadership wrangles in Ewasco.

Sources say that a group that had accompanied the acting MD wanted to eject the reinstated manager from office.

It took the intervention of police officers drawn from Embu Police Station to chip in with a view to restoring normalcy in the water company.

Embu MCAs had recommended immediate reinstatement of Eng Mutuura to office. The MCAs accused Water County Executive Committee Member (CECM) Jane Ndegi of meddling with the running of Ewasco. This, MCAs said, interfered with water supply in the region.

Given ample time

The Speaker Thiriku-led ward representatives held that the wrongly suspended MD should be given ample time to perform after he is reinstated.

They blamed the fallout in Ewasco on cartels of “incompetent senior company operatives with political ambitions”. They said the managers were plotting massive graft that might see millions of taxpayers’ funds looted from Ewasco accounts before their contracts lapse in 2022.

The chairperson of Ewasco Board of Directors Dr Johannes Njoka told the media that he recalled the MD on recommendations by the County Assembly of Embu and Wasreb who recommended the suspended MD be reinstated.

“The dismissal of Felix Mutuura was unfair and uncalled for since the company was experiencing some crisis. Crisis have continued culminating in suspension and finally unfair dismissal of Managing Director. The report that we have received from Embu County Assembly absolved completely the allegations that had been levelled against him”, said Dr Njoka.

Ewasco employees that Mwingi Times interviewed welcomed the reinstatement of their MD saying his suspension was political. 

 Obed Mwathi who is an official of the County Government Workers Union Embu chapter described the reinstated MD as a hardworking man who is dedicated to his work.''We are welcoming our MD Mr Mutuura because he was chased away illegally. We don't want politics in our company as these wrangles may deny locals better services. When the wrangles entered the company, many problems occurred ,''said Mwathi.

STORY By MWINGI TIMES CORRESPONDENT, EDITED By MUSYOKA NGUI