By Peter Ochieng
It is all systems go for the election of new Migori County Assembly Speaker.
The new Speaker will be elected on Tuesday, May 28, 2024 to replace Charles Owino Likowa who was impeached by Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) last month.
Likowa was impeached over alleged mismanagement of affairs of the House. The impeachment motion was unanimously passed by 59 out of 60 the MCAs present in the House during the process.
A total of 12 candidates have been cleared to contest for the vacant position. The Migori County Assembly Speaker position has become a ‘hot potato’ for many to handle, given the fact that 7 different people have occupied it since the advent of devolution in 2013.
Compare that with a county like Kisumu, where Elisha Jack Oraro is serving as the third County Assembly Speaker, after his predecessor’s Ann Atieno Adul and George Onyango Oloo.
“Out of the 18 persons who completed and returned their nomination papers, the following twelve persons qualified as candidates for election as Speaker of the County Assembly of Migori,” stated Acting County Assembly Clerk Vincensia Kionge.
The qualified candidates are; Mdeizi Sagwa Alfred, Aluoch Willis Aluoch, Omollo Francis Ndar, Steve Ogony Martin, Joseph Obiero Ndiege, Tony Blair Ongus and Allan Chacha Mang’era.
Others are; Christopher Odhiambo Rusana, Castro Baraza Odhiambo, Jane Maronge Marowa, Jobando Peter Osieko, and Awuonda Jared Otieno.
Meanwhile in Kisumu County, governor Anyang’ Nyong’o has expressed concerns, adding that devolution is under threat, under President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.
Addressing the press in Kisumu on Monday during the official opening of a national dialogue on urban development, Nyong’o urged the national government to gazette all transferred functions and the resources aligned to them.
“Our clarion call is we must defend devolution. If the threat to devolution mounted by the current regime continues, then Kenyans are bound to lose a lot in terms of service delivery,” said the second term county boss.
Nyong’o doubles up as the lands, housing, and urban development committee chairperson within the Council of Governors (CoG).