Taita Taveta Members of County Assembly (MCAs) have rejected four cabinet secretaries nominated by Governor Andrew Mwadime.
Governor Mwadime will now have to select and submit new names to replace the four who were rejected by the Members of County Assembly.
According to the MCAs, the four nominees failed to meet the required experience to run the dockets they had been proposed to head.
The nominees rejected include Peter Mnene (Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation), Christine Zighe (Devolution, Public Service and Administration), Peter Mwandawiro (Public Works, Infrastructure and Transport), and Josephine Marura Mwatibo (Trade, Tourism, Cooperatives Development and Industrialization).
Nonetheless, the MCAs approved six nominees to the cabinet, thence laying the ground for Governor Mwadime’s administration to kick-off the running of the county government.
Nominees who were approved by the MCAs include Grantone Samboja Mwandawiro (Water, Environment, Sanitation, Climate Change and Natural Resources), Gifton Mkaya (Health), Ms Gloria Monikombo (Education), Danson Mzenge (Finance), Elizabeth Mkongo (Lands, Physical Planning, Housing, Mining and Energy) and Shedrack Mutungi (Youth, Sports, Gender, Culture and Social Services).
Moreover, during the debate, the deputy speaker, who was also the motion mover Anselm Mwadime said rejection of the four nominees was based on the candidate’s ability to deliver to the dockets.
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“This house cannot operate as an extension of the executive. We will not abdicate our role to keep the executive accountable,” he said.
The deputy speaker further urged governor Mwadime to immediately make new appointments to replace those rejected by the MCAs.
“Our decision to reject some of the nominees should not be misconstrued to mean that we do not support the county government. This is within our mandate and we want the best for this county,” he added.
Likewise, deputy majority leader Lawrence Mzugha validated the vetting committee’s report saying the House will not rubber stamp the governor’s decisions but will be making their independent resolutions without interference from the executive.
He further asked the governor to consider geographical and gender balance while making the nominee list.
However, some of the MCAs opposed the motion, saying that governor Mwadime had settled for qualified persons and had considered regional and gender balancing in his nominee list.
The MCAs who opposed the motion include Mboghonyi ward representative Salim Taraya, his Mahoo counterpart Daniel Kimuyu and nominated MCA Anisa Mwakio.
“Why should a nominee be rejected for lack of enough managerial skills, lack of touch with the ground and inability to manage county staff? This is not convincing. The report should be done in a polished version which does not raise suspicions on the intentions of the rejection of the nominees,” Ms Mwakio stated.
