Governor Isaac Ruto allies removed from key House committees

Members of the Bomet County Assembly (L-R) Bernard Ngeno, Deputy Speaker, Joyce Korir, Beatrice Langat and John Ngetich. The MCA said they had been given the impetuous to prepare an impeachment motion against governor Isaac Ruto after he was listed as one of the 175 individuals in the graft report handed over by President Uhuru Kenyatta to Parliament.

The fight for the control of the county assembly continued yesterday after the House purged committee chairmen allied to Governor Isaac Ruto.

In the supremacy battles, ward reps said to be supporters of Deputy President William Ruto were picked to chair the committees.

The re-constitution of the committees comes barely a month after the expulsion of nine nominated MCAs believed to be sympathetic to Governor Ruto by the United Republican Party (URP).

All committees are now being chaired by MCAs said to be opposed to Governor Ruto and political pundits say the move is a ploy to tame the vocal outgoing chairman of the Council of Governors by the national government. The replacement was done carried during a special sitting that lasted late into the night on May 6 at the assembly chambers.

Ruto has been dogged by allegations of mismanagement of funds and was among governors adversely mentioned in a corruption report handed to the National Assembly and Senate by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

NEW FACES

Some of the crucial committees previously held by MCAs believed to be Governor Ruto's supporters include the Budget and Appropriation Committee, Public Accounts Committee and Public Investment Committee, Committee on Implementation, Urban Planning Committee and Committee on Legislation and Delegation.

Budget and Appropriation Committee, which has been held over the last two years by nominated MCA Aurelia Chepkirui will now be headed by Kaplentundo Ward Representative Bernard Ngeno.

Chepkirui was among MCAs who were expelled by URP but was reinstated by the court.

The committee was targeted because it has been alleged that Ruto has been manipulating the budget process to suit his interests.

In an interview, the committee's newly-appointed chairperson reiterated the need to respect House procedures in the budget-making process.

"We don't want incidents where the executive flies documents to the Budget and Appropriation chair's home for signing while he is on sick leave as happened last time. The documents were supposed to be signed by the vice-chair, but he was by-passed because he is not allied to the governor," Ngeno said.

The new chair is known for his criticism of the governor, and at one time accused him of unfair distribution of resources among the 25 wards. Ms Chepkirui has been moved to the vice-chairperson's position. Embomos Ward Representative Robert Serbai, another strong critic of Governor Ruto, will now head the Lands and Urban Planning Committee that was held by another nominated MCA, Beatrice Chebomui.

The MCAs said the committee requires an independent person who can lead investigations into numerous land issues in the area.

Kembu Ward Representative Julius Korir will be chairing the newly created Committee on Implementation. The assembly has often clashed with the executive over implementation of legislation it has passed.

Mr Korir said it was unfortunate the legislation and resolutions passed by the House had been left gathering dust on shelves as the electorate push for improvement in service delivery.

"It will be a turning point as we will now take to task the executive for failing to implement what we have passed. We can't continue wasting time and resources to come up with bills that are not acted upon," Korir told The Standard.