Gakuru, 51, is the second Nyeri County chief to die in office

Catherine Gakuru (right), wife of the late Nyeri Governor Wahome Gakuru, at Lee Funeral Home. [Beverlyne Musili, Standard]

Within nine months, death has robbed Nyeri County of two governors. This means that in just five years, Nyeri will have had four governors.

Never in the history of Kenya have two elected representatives passed on in such quick succession.

Governor Wahome Gakuru, 51, died in a road accident along Nyeri-Nairobi Highway in Kabati yesterday morning. He becomes the second Nyeri County chief to die in office.

His tragic death comes just months after the first governor, Nderitu Gachagua, died of pancreatic cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

Cede control

Gachagua's demise on February 24 came after a two-year battle with the condition in which time he was shuttling between Nyeri and the hospital, often ceding control of the county to his deputy Samuel Wamathai.

Before his death, Gachagua was last seen in public in November 2016 before leaving for the UK.

His prolonged absence became a subject of speculation and often false death reports that were promptly denied by the family.

With the increased absence period and the mystery surrounding his health, so did the rumours.

It was a classic situation of hoping for the best but preparing for any eventuality. So when his brother Rigathi Gachagua broke the news of his death, the county was saddened but had seen it coming.

Gachagua, a former Mathira lawmaker, became the first governor to die in office.

Turbulent tenure

He had a turbulent tenure and was often at loggerheads with the county assembly which led to two impeachment attempts.

The latest impeachment attempt in September 2016, four months before his death, saw a frail Gachagua appear before the Senate to fight off allegations of financial impropriety.

He survived the impeachment unscathed.

So frosty was their relationship that some Members of County Assembly boycotted his funeral, apparently in protest over comments by Gachagua's brother Rigathi.

"All the good things you are saying about him now would have been useful and sensible had they been uttered when my brother was alive. They are meaningless now since he is dead," Rigathi remarked.

The statements were believed to have been targeted the MCAs, who just four months earlier had passed a motion to impeach Gachagua.

But barely months after taking over as the governor, Gakuru excelled where Gachagua failed, winning the backing of the assembly.

During the debate of a motion on the suitability of gender and youth nominee Sheila Githaiga, the assembly spoke in one voice that they would not walk the same path as the predecessor assembly.

To a number of the members, rejecting the nominations would be a call back to the first county assembly which was always opposed to the governor.

“We must clearly depart from the path of the predecessor assembly which was constantly on a war path with the governor,” Deputy Speaker Samuel Kariuki said.

“We cannot start fighting now. We have to uphold the image of the governor,” nominated MCA Elizabeth Wanjiku.

Betty Thumbi, in supporting the motion to adopt the list, said she had sworn loyalty to Gakuru when she was nominated.

A day before Gakuru's death, Speaker John Kaguchia said they met in his office where they discussed the supplementary budget.

His death has left most of them reeling in shock.