Crisis in Bomet as public servants resign to join politics

Bomet county public service is likely to face a serious crisis of brain drain as some of its staff are currently resigning in droves to beat the February 7th deadline given by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Committee (IEBC) to public servants who will be seeking elective posts in the next general election.

Several public servants in the county have handed over resignation notices to the County government ahead of this year's general election scheduled for August 8th. Among the notable names is Dr. Peter Koross the county's Finance and Economic Planning Executive who confirmed to have tendered his resignation notice on Friday January 6th exactly one month to the deadline set by the IEBC.

"I gave a similar notice to Egerton University where I was a lecturer before joining the county government of Bomet and I am all set to join elective politics." he said while addressing journalists in Bomet town.

Dr. Koross who will be vying for Member of Parliament position for Nakuru Town West constituency on an ODM ticket revealed he would be stepping down from his county government position officially on 7th February.

Mr. Victor Koech an electrical engineer with the Bomet government said he tendered his notice of resignation on January 5th and will vie for the Chepalungu parliamentary seat on Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) ticket and will be facing incumbent Paul Savimbi who will be defending his seat through Jubilee ticket but will have to deal with party nominations first.

Mr. Simon Korir a roads engineer with the county public works department has also tendered his resignation notice in preparation to contest for the Narok South parliamentary seat on CCM ticket. Ms Janet Chepkirui from the Education department who will vie for the Bomet East parliamentary seat ,Emily Sawe, a secretary who will be contesting for the Bomet Woman representative on CCM, Mr. Cosmsas Korir of county's Ministry of Agriculture who will contest for Konoin parliamentary seat on CCM and Mr. Weldon Cheruiyot of the Enegry department who will be contesting for the Kipsonoi ward seat on Jubilee party ticket are among those who have expressed interest in joining politics.

The development will likely bring some crisis in running of various departments in the county government in the run up to the general election although a source close to the county government revealed that positions left vacant would be filled by staff taking positions on acting capacity to ensure smooth operations in offices and continue with service delivery to clients