Governors meeting cancelled as row with State deepens

From Left: Kisii Governor James Ongwae, Chairman Council of Governors Josphat Nanok and PS Ministry of Health Julius Korir during a press conference on June 5, 2017. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

Induction of county chiefs and their deputies has been postponed indefinitely after differences emerged on who should conduct the exercise.

Differences between the Council of Governors (CoG) and the national government have seen the forum postponed for a second time in a month.

Some have even alleged a plot to weaken the CoG and eventually disband it.

The county chiefs were expected to arrive in Mombasa last evening for the four-day forum, which was to be concluded with a full council meeting to elect CoG officials.

Last week, the council sent a statement to newsrooms saying the forum had been postponed to a later date without giving any further explanations.  

“After consultation with partners, the planned governors and deputy governors’ induction meeting scheduled for Mombasa County has been postponed indefinitely. An appropriate date and venue will be communicated in due course. We apologise to all stakeholders for the inconvenience caused,” the CoG said in a statement on Friday evening.

However, sources have indicated the decision to shelve the event was arrived at after the Ministry of Devolution called the Whitesands Hotel, where the forum was to be held, to cancel the booking.

On September 21, Devolution PS Micah Powon wrote to the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) saying the State had withdrawn Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) from the CEO of the council Ms Jacqueline Mogeni.

Powon said the move was in accordance with the Intergovernmental Relations Act (IGRA) of 2012, which provides that the budget for staff salaries and benefits is financed by Treasury through IGRTC.

 “Having taken into considerations the legal implications of the above matter, it has been decided that the financing of the council of governors will be channeled through the IGRTC with effect from October 1, 2017, being the body recognised in law to undertake such activities,” the letter to IGRTC chairman Prof Karega Mutahi reads in part.

The circular is copied to Ms Mogeni and Devolution CS Mwangi Kiunjuri and head of accounting unit.

 

CoG chairman Josphat Nanok is understood to have complained to Kiunjuri that the move to deny the CoG funding was illegal as the secretariat is a creation of the summit chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta with all governors as members. It is then that PS Powon wrote a second memo withdrawing his earlier circular.

The meeting was initially scheduled for Mombasa from September 4 – 7 at Pride Inn Beach Hotel but was deferred after weeks of haggling between the CoG and the Devolution ministry on who has the mandate to organise the forum.

On July 16, the council secretariat sent a press statement saying it had organised the event to bring new county officials up to speed on a range of policies and legislation that apply to their roles and provide them with an understanding of the dynamics in the devolved system of governance.

But a week later, the Presidency directed that such activities should be coordinated by the Devolution ministry and appointed an inter-ministerial committee to oversee planning of the workshop.