- Joseph Juma Nyongesa of Tuti ward replaces Florence Fulano of Maeni ward as majority leader.
- Initial attempts to topple the team allied to Wangamati were resisted by MCAs allied to him.
Governor Wycliffe Wangamati has lost control of the Bungoma county assembly after all leaders associated with him were removed in new changes.
The initial attempts to topple the team allied to Wangamati were resisted by MCAs allied to him.
This time, however, 25 out of the 36 NASA coalition MCAs signed to have the changes.
Joseph Juma Nyongesa of Tuti ward replaced Florence Fulano of Maeni ward as majority leader.
Fulano had survived previous attempts to remove her, with MCAs accusing her of jumping to bed with the executive.
Elizabeth Tindi was elected the deputy majority leader in the well-orchestrated plan that was full of drama.
MCAs last Thursday, May 7, failed to impeach her during a charged session that featured fistfights on the floor of the assembly.
In other changes read by assembly speaker Emmanuel Situma, Mukuyuni MCA Meshack Simiyu alias Museveni was elected the majority chief whip. He replaced Malakisi/South Kulisiru MCA Everlyne Mutyembu.
Bungoma township MCA Joseph Maguda was picked as the deputy chief whip to replace nominated MCA Luke Opwora.
Those supporting the motion and those against it engaged in insults during the noisy session.
The changes came even after Governor Wangamati fought hard to retain the outgoing team.
Political observers have opined that the new changes might deal a blow to Wangmati owing to the fact that the new leadership is composed of his harsh critics.
Nyongesa said it was a new dawn in the assembly leadership that would see the oversight role taken to a new level.
“I want to assure my colleagues and our bosses (voters) that you are going to experience a new dawn in the assembly’s leadership. We will play our oversight roles well as stipulated in the Constitution,” he said.
Ndivisi MCA Martin Wanyonyi lauded the move and said the changes came at the right time.
“We have suffered for long. There are no development projects in our wards. People are demanding projects yet our leaders are sleeping on their jobs. We will now play our oversight roles very well without executive interference,” he said.
Edited by Henry Makori