In fulfilment with the provisions of Sections 19(2) and (3) of the Intergovernmental Relations Act 2012, the Council of Governor convened a full Council Meeting in which elections were held for the Executive and Technical Committee Chairs.
Kirinyaga county Governor Anne Waiguru was re- elected as the Chair person, while Wajir county Governor Ahmed Abdullahi as the Vice Chairperson and Nandi county Governor Stephen Sang as the Whip.
Following her re-election, Waiguru said that her focus will now be ensuring that all devolved functions and subsequent resources are fully handed over to the county governments.
The Kirinyaga governor promised to focus on increasing revenue allocation to counties, supporting counties to improve own source revenue and successful implementation of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), agricultural value chains development, value addition and trade.
Additionally, the governor also acknowledged the governors for voting for her.
“I want to thank all Governors for having faith in my leadership, allow me also to congratulate the entire executive and the respective technical committee chairs elected today,” added Waiguru.
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However, Waiguru noted that her first term as chair of the council was not free from challenges, among them included continuous attempts to retain Devolution through “retrogressive legislation and creation of unconstitutional bodies to undertake devolved functions.”
She mentioned the recent gazettement of additional Water Works Development Authority, the enactment of Community Groups Bill and the “overnight passage” of the Facility Improvement Funds Act, as some of the recent attempts to claw back devolution.
“We call upon the National Government and other Devolution stakeholders to embrace consultation, cooperation and collaboration to enable us serve the people of Kenya effectively,” she said.
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However, most governors retained their positions at the council including Tharaka Nithi County governor Muthomi Njuki in Health, Energy, Roads, Transport and Infrastructure is still for Kiambu county governor Kimani Wamatangi, while Finance, Planning and Economic Affairs is for Kakamega county governor Fernandes Barasa and Resource Mobilization and Partnerships for Embu county governor Cecily Mbarire.
Additionally, Governor Patrick Ole Ntutu retained his position for Tourism and Wildlife, his Bungoma counterpart Kenneth Lusaka retained the Agriculture, Livestock and Cooperatives docket, Nathif Jama for Arid, Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL), Kisumu’s Anyang Nyong’o Disaster Management committee, Land, Housing and Urban Development and Issa Timamy the Blue Economy docket.
Nairobi’s Johnson Sakaja, however, lost the Human Resource, Labour, and Social Welfare docket to his Nyeri counterpart Mutahi Kahiga.
In the position of chair of the Trade, Industry, and Enterprise Development Committee, Nakuru’s Susan Kihika has been picked to replace Wavinya Ndeti of Machakos.
