Governor Peter Munya retains Council of Governors seat and vows to fight for devolution

Meru Governor Peter Munya. PHOTO BY EDWARD KIPLIMO.

Meru Governor Peter Munya has retained his position as chairman of the Council of Governors (COG).

His re-election means he will lead the council into the final leg as the country heads to the 2017 General Election.

“We are going to work with all stakeholders to make sure devolution succeeds. We will continue to do this work without fear or favour to make sure the agenda of devolution goes forward,” he said.

Speaking in Nairobi shortly after his election yesterday, Mr Munya struck a reconciliatory tone and extended an olive branch to the National Government. He said he will build partnerships with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to ensure laws made to support devolution actually back the growth of counties.

Taita Taveta Governor John Mrutu was elected the new council vice chair after he floored his Uasin Gishu counterpart Jackson Mandago in the polls. The seat fell vacant after the previous Vice-Chairman Salim Mvurya served the mandatory two terms. Marsabit Governor Ukur Yattani retained Council’s Chief Whip position after he was also elected unopposed.

“This is really a great judgment that we applaud,” said Munya.

This year’s election was a low key event, unlike the previous election where several county bosses contested various posts in the leadership body that came with the new Constitution.

The elections, which took five hours, had a lot of concessions with some governors holding back their ambitions to let their colleagues get the plum jobs of chairing key committees within the council. Munya said all the country’s 47 governors and members of their county executives will meet on June 6-7 to chart the way forward.

“We know this is a political year, and we are not shy as governors to engage in politics. But we want politics to take a backseat so that governors have enough time to develop the country. The meeting will look at our agenda to assess our performance and to see where we can improve. County governments are major stakeholders in elections... all of us have an interest in free and fair elections,” he said.

Besides being the official spokesman for all the 47 governors, the chairman is also in charge of the council’s fund contributed by the county governments and donor organisations.