By Reporter
Wanga appointed the immediate former County Executive Committee (CEC) member for Trade, Tourism, Industry, Cooperative Development and Marketing, Mr Polycarp Okombo, to the post of Speaker of the Assembly.
She then nominated the immediate former Speaker, Julius Gaya, who resigned to create space, to the CEC post that Okombo previously occupied.
Gaya was forced to resign after 53 members of the County Assembly had appended their signatures to impeach him.
Wanga, who spoke in Homa Bay, said, “The government is one, and the changes were good for the county. Gaya, who is a strong party member, will now join me at the executive.”
Residents have expressed concern about whether the assembly will be able to execute its mandate of overseeing the executive, now that the Governor has effectively muzzled it.
They worry that the assembly could become a rubber-stamping institution with no teeth to bite or power to police the executive.
Wanga has already forwarded the list of nominees to the assembly, which will vet them.
With Wanga’s declaration of the changes, it appears it will just be a formality before Gaya is sworn in as CEC.
Okombo won the Speaker seat with a majority, beating his three opponents. Both Okombo and Gaya hail from the Central Ward in the Karachuonyo constituency.
The Speaker position had initially attracted 13 applicants; however, only four were shortlisted for the final exercise. The four were shortlisted after returning their nomination application forms on time.
Gaya succeeded the former Speaker, Elizabeth See, who was elected as Speaker after defeating her arch-rival, the former Gwassi North MCA, Evance Marieba, garnering 40 votes out of a possible 54.
