Governors were split last night between consensus and secret ballot voting as intense lobbying began ahead of today’s Council of Governors (CoG) elections.
If no agreement is reached by today, the county executives will be forced to hold elections, the first time since 2013. The race is between governors Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) and Joseph ole Lenku (Kajiado), after Wajir’s Abdullahi Ahmed was persuaded by Azimio colleagues to step down in favor of Mr Lenku.
On Thursday, a group of Azimio governors met with ODM leader Raila Odinga in a Mombasa hotel, where it was agreed that Mr Lenku will fly the coalition’s flag after gaining the support of the majority of those present.
County bosses in Kenya Kwanza, who are thought to be opposed to Ms Waiguru’s Council of Governor (CoG) candidacy, are said to be pushing for the secret ballot model in order to avoid antagonizing the coalition’s top leadership. They believe that using a secret ballot will break open the close race between Ms Waiguru and Mr Lenku and avoid situations in which either side will be blamed for the loss of a member.
However, on Thursday, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua stated that he and President William Ruto were ready to work with whoever is elected chairperson of the governors.
“Please work as a team and put Azimio and Kenya Kwanza’s differences aside because they are water under the bridge.” Elect your leaders without regard for who belongs to which formation, and stick together. “Buffaloes do not move in herds because they like each other, but because working alone is dangerous,” Mr Gachagua explained.
He stated that the county chiefs are free to use any model in the elections to select the council’s leadership.
“If you elect CoG chairperson through consensus, so be it. If you can agree on other positions, so be it. You don’t have to look for anyone, even from the opposition, to push me or Dr Ruto on matters of devolution. We just need good leaders whom we can engage as we are already up to the game and are ready,” the DP said.
The council is already led by Mary Mwiti, a former county executive from Meru in Kenya’s Mount Kenya region.
