Ottichilo, Saisi to part ways in 2022 as feud escalates

Vihiga county's top two leaders are spending what is left of their time in office as strange bedfellows. 

Governor Wilber Ottichilo accuses his deputy Patrick Saisi of running a parallel government to his and angling to succeed him. 

“It’s his political right to do that but that should not give him powers to work against my administration as he is doing currently,” Ottichilo said.

Saisi says their strained relationship is disrupting service delivery to the voters. 

“If I could have been serving on appointment terms I could have walked out of the office, but because we were elected with him, I will stay in office up to the next election only for the respect of the voters in the county,” Saisi told the Star.

He accused his boss of making decisions without involving him even though they were elected to office on a joint ticket. 

Saisi said his boss has collapsed all financial departments into one, giving other departments a hard time running their activities.

“I was totally disappointed when my boss accused me of running a parallel government when I'm just helping him things to work smoothly,” Saisi said.

The deputy governor had convened a meeting with striking health workers to find a solution to their grievances when Ottichilo said he was running a separate administration. 

The governor maintained there was no money for the health workers. 

“On the issue of a parallel government, my DG calls KNUN leadership to sign a return-to-work formula when the same issue is being handled at CoG level,” Ottichilo said.

The governor also told the Star by phone that his deputy is being petty with irrelevant issues and he has no time to listen to them.

“The issue of car fueling, furniture and furnishing of his office it’s not me to do. He has got staff in his office that needs to address that,” Ottichilo said on the phone.

He said the deputy governor is entitled to an imprest of Sh500,000 to run his office.

The feud between the two leaders became public when Saisi reported to Kisumu Central police station claiming his life was in danger.

Vihiga elders led by Fred Omido brought the leaders together and asked them to shake hands as a show of reconciliation. 

Omido urged the leadership to instal a functional unit for development for the benefit of their constituents. 

“These wrangles on a daily basis will not help this county. We have registered dismal development within the county. We, therefore, quickly need to resolve this menace," the former MP said. 

While agreeing to bury the hatchet, Ottichilo said a good working relationship at the executive will ensure the development of the county. 

The governor acknowledged the misunderstanding between him and his deputy, admitting that it had derailed their work.

“Those differences that have been at our necks are now ironed out and we are going to work together for the public,” Ottichilo said.

Saisi said there were positives to be drawn from the dispute as it had moulded them to withstand challenges as they serve the public. 

It is back to square one for the two leaders.