Kericho County Governor Dr. Eric Mutai has defended himself against the mounting pressure on him to fire senior County Officers implicated in abuse of office through misappropriation of funds raised for victims of the Londiani accident saying he has no powers to lay off.
Governor Mutai who addressed the media at the County government premises revealed that he had written to the Kericho County Assembly insisting on compliance with Section 40 of the Constitution which requires the County Assembly to form a select committee leading into the impeachment of the CECMs saying that after that, he would be empowered by the law to remove the accused CECMs from the office within two days.
“On the issue of the recommendation of the removal of the County Executive Committee Members (CECM), I wish to state that the governor has no authority to dismiss the CECs but only subject to the provisions of section 40 of the County Government Amendment ACT 2020 which gives the County Assembly the power to propose a motion requiring the dismissal of a CECM. The office of the Chief Officer is an office in the County Public Service, as provided for under section 45 (2) of the County government ACT 2012 it behoves upon me to forward the names of the implicated Chief Officers to the County Public Service Board to undertake the necessary disciplinary action as per the recommendations of the report and the law,” he said.
“On the part of the County Secretary, Section 54 (3) a, b, c and 58 (a) of the County Government Amendment ACT 2020 guides on the removal of the County Secretary by the governor. The 2020 amendment provides for a selection panel to interview and recommend the County Secretary’s appointment and removal conditions. I will appoint a panel with the approval of the County Assembly to investigate and give recommendations within 10 days from the date of approval,” said Dr. Mutai.
Kericho County Assembly adhoc committee that investigated corruption allegations against the Kericho County government funeral committee in charge of funds collected for Londiani Accident victims recommended to the governor to dismiss them for abuse of office, forgery, and misappropriation of funds.
The implicated officials include; the County Secretary and Head of Public Service Dr. Wesly Bor, County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Health Services Brenda Bii, Finance and Economic Planning CECM Leonard Ngetich, County Chief Officer in the Executive Office of the Governor Alphonse Rotich, County Chief Finance officer Gilbert Bii and County Chief Officer Lands, Housing, Physical Planning, and Housing Betsy Chebet.