Mohamed Abdi Mohamud, the newest candidate for the title ‘former governor', must be among the little-known county bosses.
Besides his height, he possesses no other distinguishing physical attributes or behaviours that would make him stand out among his peers.
His name, too, is not memorable; not with Sonkoree and Babayao for competition. When the Wajir County Assembly passed a motion to impeach him on Tuesday, many must have laboured to put a face to the man.
His face appearing on the evening news was because the removal of any governor is a weighty matter. But Mohamud doesn’t have to be a familiar face to anyone besides Wajir residents. After all, he was elected governor of his county, not governor-in-chief.
If the Senate agrees with Wajir MCAs, they will keep their county CEO in relative obscurity. When they voted to give him an 'early retirement', they agreed with claims that Mohamud has always favoured a quiet life, devoid of much responsibility. And by impeaching him, they perhaps believe they are doing the first-term governor a favour.
Besides the cliché charges of gross violation of the Constitution and corruption-related offences, the county lawmakers argued that Mohamud was guilty of playing ‘Robert Mugabe’; no, not by clinging to power but by showing interest in turning the county government into marital property.
Like Mugabe did in his sunset years, His Excellency is the subject of claims that he had donated his duties to his beloved wife.
In a motion endorsed by Abdullahi Isack, the Tulatula MCA, Mohamud was accused of taking up a ceremonial role in running the county affairs. “It is an open secret in Wajir County and far beyond that Mrs Kheira Omar is the ‘supreme’ leader of the county and it is always her way or the highway,” reads part of the motion.
“His decision to relinquish the Executive powers vested on him constitutionally and derived from the people amounts to abuse of office and relegation of duties.”
Reading through the motion, one gets the impression that the MCAs were more hurt than they were annoyed by anything the governor may have or may not have done.
While their accusations have yet to be subjected to the truth, they seem to be a desperate plea to force out a governor they feel is increasingly growing distant.
The governor has protested his ouster, insisting that he had a court order blocking the MCAs from debating the motion.
After he fought off two judgements that nullified his election in 2017, Mohamud is now fighting to stay on the job.
In a way, he is assuring the MCAs that he still has their backs, but they are seemingly not interested in him any longer.
