Team of 10 picked to vet Kilifi political candidates

By Joseph Masha

A team of ten people has been formed to vet political candidates in Kilifi County ahead of the coming General Election.

The names of the ten people of high integrity were tabled before an inter-community taskforce that had been put in place to get the names of potential panelists.

A consultative forum for the steering bodies on social vetting held at a Kilifi hotel and organised by Community Aid International endorsed the list of the proposed panelists.

According to Mr Daniel Mwayaya, who takes over as acting chair of the inter-community taskforce after the death of its chairman Boniface Mwamuye, the essence of the formation of the vetting panel was to ensure the electorate in the county gets better leaders.

“Though Kilifi County has been rated as one of the rich counties in the country, endowed with many resources, the area hosts the poorest district in the country, Ganze, and we should blame poor leadership for the problem,” said Mr Mwayaya.

He said the people should come together and find better ways of helping voters identify good leaders.

 Accepted offer

Seven of the proposed panelists who included Dr Shauri Halimu of Pwani University offered their acceptance to serve in the panel.

“As a leader who minds the welfare of voters of Kilifi County and the prosperity of the area in development, I have accepted to work with my fellow panelists to vet our leaders,” said Halimu.

In the forum, it was resolved the panelists would meet on the 20th of this month to elect their chairman and secretary before they take up their tasks. Forum moderator Kashero Chinyaka, said the panelists would vet those aspiring for different seats.