Kisii Governor James Ongwae and his deputy Joash Maangi are fighting to salvage their political careers amid discontent from a section of residents who have since filed a petition at the County Assembly seeking the impeachment of the former.
This comes a few weeks after Maangi suffered a similar fate after a section of Orange Democratic Movement officials from Bomachoge sub-branch attempted to have him removed for allegedly siding with the Jubilee administration to undermine Ongwae’s leadership.
Ongwae reportedly urged the petitioners to drop their push to impeach Maangi.
It has now emerged the architects of the plot to remove Maangi from office are officials of the county government.
However, the deputy governor has dismissed claims that a rift exists between him and Ongwae.
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“I enjoy a very cordial relationship with my governor. We are working together very well,” Maangi told a local vernacular radio station last week.
Ongwae called the radio station and claimed political enemies, who he could not name, were working to destabilise his leadership.
And speaking to journalists last week, Ongwae also denied playing any role in Maangi’s woes.
In a new twist, another group of petitioners has now turned the heat on Ongwae, forcing him to convene a series of meetings with MCAs in an attempt to quell political tension.
When contacted for comment, Ongwae told The Standard that the issue that had been raised by the petitioners was “neither here nor there.”
“The person distributing the petition is a former councillor and campaign manager of one of the candidates who is eyeing the gubernatorial seat in 2017, and all he wants to do is to derail my development projects,” he said.
The Standard has obtained the signed copy of the petition to impeach Ongwae.
GROSS VIOLATION
The group wants the County Assembly to impeach Ongwae for “gross violation” of Article 73 of the Constitution.
A myriad allegations have been levelled against Ongwae ranging from skewed employment of county staff, creating a bloated workforce, irregular tendering processes, conflict of interest, abuse of office and dereliction of duty.
The petitioners claim the Kisii County payroll was excessive and overblown due to “lack of specified criteria in fixing salaries, allowances, and perks”.
They have demanded that Ongwae presents to the assembly names of all appointees and recruits together with their job groups and remuneration.
They also want Ongwae to clarify the fate of the sculpture that was never delivered to the United States of America for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The county allegedly spent Sh10 million in attempts to have the gigantic soapstone carving taken to the festival.
Last weekend, Kisii Senator Chris Obure appealed to residents to give the county government time to deliver on its development agenda instead of spending too much time on politics.
