Drama unfolded yesterday at a hotel in Kenol town in Murang'a when Kigumo youth groups fought over cash handouts. Youth leaders invited for a conference organised by Green Earth Organisation, an NGO, failed to agree with the officials on the sharing out of money donated by local politicians.

The more than 80 youth leaders disrupted operations at the hotel as they threatened to beat up the meeting's organiser Douglas Ndumbi. The youth were angered by Ndumbi for reneging on an agreement to give them Sh500 each instead of Sh200 for transport. In the ensuing argument, some youth almost came to blows over the cash dispute.

The Sh100,000 had been give out by several politicians including the area MP and the Nairobi Metropolitan minister Jamleck Kamau, women seat aspirants Wanjiru Chege and Mary Waithira and Moses Mwangi, who is aspiring for Murang'a county governor seat. Efforts by the hotel attendants and the managers to cool down the charged youth failed.

Things got worse when Ndumbi sneaked out of the hotel forcing the youth to comb the whole area for him. "You cannot allow you to treat us like your children. We will teach you a lesson that you will never forget," shouted the youth. The confrontation disrupted business at the hotel with some patrons abandoning their meals for fear of being attacked the youth. The management was forced to seek help from the police to restore order.

A youth leader who declined to be named said they this was not the first time they had been short changed by unscrupulous leaders who use them to get money from politicians.

The incident attracted a crowd of curious onlookers. It took the interventions of the police to disperse the youth, who had vowed to camp at the hotel until they got their share of the money. "We spent more than Sh300 to come to this place and there is no way we can be told to go home without having our refund," said some of the youth. Speaking to the press, Ndumbi said he could only afford to give the youth Sh200 because he had used most of the money to organise the event.