Regional commissioner should tread carefully on issue of transfer of assets

NAIROBI: A controversy is raging between the County Government of Kisumu and Mr Francis Mutie, the Regional Commissioner. The issue is simple. Mr Mutie is of the opinion that Prosperity House, the skyscraper used previously as the Provincial Headquarters for Nyanza Province, belongs to his office: the Regional Commission. Governor Jack Ranguma and his deputy Ruth Odinga aver to the contrary: the County Headquarters is the legal successor of institutions of government in Kisumu that existed under the previous constitution, and Mr Mutie had better be acquainted with clause 33 in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution on “Transitional and Consequential Provisions.” In this regard Mr Kinuthia Wamwangi, the boss of the Transitional Authority, has thrown his weight behind the Governor. So have I as the County Senator. What do we then do with brother Mutie?

First we must regard Mutie’s salvo as an unfortunate incident. The County Government has been in Prosperity House for close to three years of its five year existence. It is therefore rather late in the day to regard that occupation as a mistake. If it were, the matter should have been raised expeditiously when it originally came to light. And if it is raised now it should be settled between the Office of the President and the Transition Authority in Nairobi.