Governor Hangs CECs out to dry After Escaping Impeachment

Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo pictured at a Council of Governors (CoG) meeting at Mövenpick Hotel, Nairobi on January 20, 2020
Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo pictured at a Council of Governors (CoG) meeting at Mövenpick Hotel, Nairobi on January 20, 2020
Simon Kiragu
Kenyans.co.ke

Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo has given MCAs the green light to impeach members of the County Executive Committee whom they find to be incompetent.

Daily Nation on Tuesday, March 31 reported that the governor had assured the MCAs he would not interfere in case a minister was found inefficient.

“Where a CECM or chief officer has continuously failed to respond to county assembly summons or gives insufficient information, it is the responsibility of the responsible committees to reprimand those officers up to and including impeachment,” Ottichillo stated.

Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo at the county headquarters after reorganising the executive on Tuesday, January 21, 2020.
Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo at the county headquarters after reorganising the executive on Tuesday, January 21, 2020.
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The governor's directive comes barely a month after a section of MCAs from the county attempted to impeach him over allegations of misconduct, among them the pending bills in the county that had hampered operations.

The lawmakers had also accused Ottichilo of using his office to protect incompetent CECs from the county assembly.

The publication reported that the governor's move is part of a deal he had struck with the MCAs in exchange for dropping the impeachment motion against him. 

He argued that it was the duty of the MCAs to oversee the actions and manifestations of CECs.

"It is for this reason that these officers are vetted by the county assembly. Because of that, the county assembly can reprimand them if they fail to discharge their duties," Ottichillo stated.

The report indicated that the CECs who had been avoiding summons are now without a flank, with Ottichilo stating that there was no reason for the ministers to miss a summon.

He, however, asked the MCAs to execute their duty within the confines of the constitution.

"Communication from the county assembly to the executive is through the clerk who communicates directly to the county secretary," Ottichillo added.

He further asked that the county assembly shares the reports of the committee with the executive.

Wamuluma/Lugaga MCA Victor Ijaika stated that the move by Ottichilo had been reached in a deal to throw away an impeachment motion against him. He added that the assembly was now free to embark on assessing the CECs with probable impeachments on the table.

"The governor has told us he will no longer protect them. Any senior government staff will be held responsible for his/her actions going forward," Ijaika stated.

Vihiga County Governor Wilber Ottichilo
Vihiga County Governor Wilber Ottichilo during a press conference on Thursday, October 5, 2019.
The Standard