Kajiado MCAs make U-turn, back Lenku's Cabinet changes

Kajiado County Assembly Majority Leader John Loisa moved a motion to nullify the appointment of the chief officer for finance. [Peterson Githaiga, Standard]

Some MCAs at the Kajiado County Assembly have distanced themselves from an attempt to force Governor Joseph Ole Lenku to revoke recent changes in his Cabinet.

The MCAs say their role is not to arm-twist the governor on appointments in his administration.

Led by Deputy Speaker Daniel Kukan (Imaroro Ward), the MCAs said their oversight role does not include lobbying for people to be allocated specific dockets.

"The only thing you can do is to lobby before appointments are made. Once the governor makes up his mind on who to take where, we have no role," said Kukan.

Kukan said the Assembly should not be used to advance personal interests.

Oloolua MCA Eli Gor said the Governor cannot be coerced on who to appoint.

"Trying to bulldoze appointment or revocation of an appointment of a senior officer is overstepping our mandate. Our mandate is to vet officers and approve their suitability while the Executive decides who will work at what docket," said Gor.

Last Wednesday, Leader of Majority John Loisa moved a motion to block Sankaire Tima from taking up the position of Chief Finance Officer, a position he had previously served in.

He claimed the nominee had failed to comply with Assembly procedures with numerous audit queries raised during his tenure. Tima was further accused of being non-compliant with collection procedures, making undocumented payments, unsupported insurance and imprest transactions.

Loisa claimed during Tima's previous tenure, the county experienced a decline in revenue, with a 36.3 per cent decrease overall and a 37 per cent drop in local collections for FY 2019/20.

''The role of Chief Officer for Finance and Economic Planning demands integrity, motivation and an ability to work under pressure; qualities that the nominee has not demonstrated,'' Loisa said.

Governor Lenku on Friday asserted that the Assembly has no mandate to dictate transfers of officers.

"We operate in a space of separation of powers. Everyone knows what they should do," said Lenku.

In the reshuffle, Finance Executive Alais Kisota and his Health Services counterpart Alex Kilowua retained their positions. Public Service Executive Judy Pere was also retained.