Governors' powers questioned

Kisumu Assembly Speaker Anne Adul at a previous function. [FILE]

The Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) has been questioned over its stand on the sacking and transfer of county executive members by governors.

This follows an announcement CIC made on Monday indicating governors had the constitutional power to sack or transfer members of their cabinets without seeking approval from their county assemblies.

Siaya County Assembly Speaker George Okode yesterday disagreed with CIC's sentiments, saying governors had no power to transfer county executives to portfolios they had not been vetted for.

His Kisumu counterpart, Anne Adul, also maintained that the County Government Act did not give governors the power to fire executive members.

Speaking to The Standard in Kisumu yesterday, Mr Okode referred to the Act saying it allowed governors to sack cabinet members but gave no provision for reshuffling.

"It's against the law's intent for them (governors) to take advantage of the legal vacuum without involving the county assembly," he maintained.

The Speaker expressed fear that governors were likely to use such powers to punish dissenting voices within their cabinets at the expense of service delivery.

Differing views

Citing Section 35(3)(d) of the County Government Act, the two speakers said governors must consider the knowledge and experience, and whether candidates had distinguished careers of not less than five years in fields relevant to the portfolios to which they were appointed or moved.

"This cannot happen if fresh vetting is not done by the county assembly to check if the officer's new responsibilities match his qualifications and experience," Okode added.

"The sacking of an executive member must follow procedure. The assembly should be involved to investigate the officer's conduct and recommend his sacking if found culpable," added Ms Adul.

Interestingly, the two speakers also differed, with Okode arguing that governors had powers to sack executive members without approval of the county assembly but not reshuffle them.

"Rotation is an administration issue and a governor has executive authority to reconstitute his cabinet without the county assembly's input. However, it is not within his mandate to sack without recommendations from the county assembly," Adul said.

CIC however holds that a governor is responsible for the overall organisation of the executive and the allocation of functions among members, and that reshuffling is an administrative action.