Nakuru County Government has officially sworn in its County Executive Committee members after a protracted legal fight.
Governor Susan Kihika and two petitioners were unable to reach an agreement until the CECMs were sworn in today during a brief ceremony at the County Headquarters.
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The Nakuru Employment and Labour Relations Court nullified the nomination of 10 County Executive Committee members on December 5, 2022, following a lawsuit filed by two petitioners, Magete Gikenyi and Daniel Bett, in early October, making Nakuru county last to have CECMs.
The appointment procedure, according to Justice Hellen Wasilwa, was biased, did not represent the county’s diversity, and should not have been permitted to move forward.
The governor urged her cabinet to uphold integrity and avoid disputes across departments. The Governor insisted that none of the CECMs had been nominated in order to favor or show preference for their ethnic group, constituency, or region over the people of Nakuru.
Only one of the ten CECMs, Jacqueline Osoro was retained from the previous administrations. Osoro served as the acting minister for Health during the previous governor Lee Kinyanjui’s administration in addition to serving as the substantive CECM for Public Service and Devolution.
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Kihika stated that Osoro’s appointment to the Health docket was to ensure continuity because health was one of the essential services on which her administration was focusing special attention.
John Kihagi, a former Naivasha MP, will be in charge of Lands, Housing, and Urban Planning, and Stephen Muiruri, a former MCA for the Biashara ward, would be in charge of the Trade docket.
Others include ICT, education, and youth. Agriculture, Fisheries, and Cooperatives Ziporrah Wambui Sports, Leonard Kipkoech Bor Public Service Management, Joseph Tanui Mara for the environment, Roselyne Wanjiru Mungai for infrastructure engineering, Michael Kamau Karanja for finance and economic planning, and Josephine Atieno Achieng for public service management.
